Two Denver-area companies face federal wire fraud charges in a scheme to sell imported Chinese forklifts to the federal government as American-made equipment, according to an indictment released Tuesday. Investigators say the companies and executives also worked with a Chinese manufacturer to create fake invoices that undervalued the imported forklifts to avoid paying more than $1 million in tariffs and fees. “It is especially reprehensible that this alleged fraud involved a FEMA contract using disaster funds,” Cuffari said. Both companies and Firkins, Blasdel and Antczak were indicted for conspiring to commit wire fraud and conspiring to enter goods into the United States by means of false or fraudulent statements, federal officials said. Firkins, Blasdel and Antczak also face charges of wire fraud, and Blasdel is charged with making false statements to the government.