LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas police officer and his wife will be released from jail after their arrests in connection with an alleged commercial fraud scheme.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Officer Antonio Chavez made his initial court appearance Thursday morning after his arrest on suspicion of theft, burglary and perjury.
Prosecutors allege that Chavez and his wife, Claudia Guzman Marquez, conspired with a third party in California "in a multi-thousand-dollar commercial fraud scheme" that defrauded stores and credit card companies, "all for personal gain."
"He knew better. He knows what the law is, and he knows that he violated the law willfully because he wanted to enrich himself and his family," prosecutors said in court.
Channel 13 obtained the results of an investigative warrant and the criminal complaint court paperwork accusing Chavez and Guzman.
In it, investigators allege the couple "have shown a pattern" of using credit cards to purchase ten of thousands of dollars of expensive items and gift cards, then disputing the charges as fraudulent and claiming their cards had been stolen.
"Chavez even filed a police report with the Henderson Police Department at one point, containing false information to show the credit card company that a report had been taken," investigators alleged in their report.
Investigators allege this pattern was repeated several times between May and early August.
Defense attorney Robert Draskovich, who confirmed to the court he’s been retained as Chavez's lawyer, told the judge on Thursday, “he’s 28; he has no criminal history whatsoever, no failures to appear.”
The judge said that given the nonviolent nature of the alleged crimes, monetary bail is not necessary. Given prosecutors' allegations about a third-party co-conspirator in California, she said Chavez should be placed on mid-level electronic monitoring.
Michael Horvath, who works at the same law firm as Draskovich, is representing Guzman. Prosecutors said “she’s equally culpable and she made equal admissions” about the alleged crimes.
The judge released her from custody after discussion around her health, as she is six months pregnant. She will have a court-issued phone that will track her movements via GPS to ensure she stays in Clark County.
Both Chavez and Guzman Marquez are due back in court on October 8.
