Professor Elam

Tuesday Sept 21, 2021

Good morning. Let's get down to business.

A former head of the Small Business Administration is facing criminal charges in San Antonio that he misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to two nonprofits he’s led.

Hector Barreto, who headed the SBA for five years under President George W. Bush, was indicted by a San Antonio federal grand jury on four conspiracy charges, including to commit money laundering and wire fraud.

Barreto, 60, received more than a combined $900,000 from the Latino Coalition Foundation and Hispanic Business Roundtable Institute from 2013 through 2019, according to the indictment. He lives in Orange County, California.

San Antonio health care consultant Miguel Gutierrez, who along with Barreto allegedly had operational control over both nonprofits, was indicted on the same charges. Gutierrez also is charged with four counts of filing false tax returns.