The allegation was part of a criminal complaint that was filed against Reyes Lila Chavez, of North Church Street, Burlington, earlier this month in federal court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

A federal judge found probable cause Tuesday afternoon to charge Lila-Chavez, who has been in federal custody since Dec. 5, with conspiracy to launder money, intent to conceal property believed to be proceeds of drug sales and structured financial transactions to evade reporting requirements. He is being held without bond. His former boss, 40-year-old Kevin Bryant Brogden, of Mattie Florence Drive, Graham, was arrested Dec. 4 after a federal grand jury indicted him on similar charges. The arrests resulted from an investigation that started in 2002.

The complaint sheds more light into how investigators were able to build a case against the two men.

According to the complaint, a confidential source, who worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, went to the business at 1784 E. Webb Ave., Burlington, several times in March looking to buy a car.

The source, the complaint said, allegedly told Lila-Chavez that the money that was going to be used to buy the car was the proceeds from drug trafficking.

Lila-Reyes, who had been working at the business for 2 1/2 years, warned the source that the government investigates any cash transactions greater than $10,000. He then offered to structure the payments to make it appear as if the payments were made over several days, the complaint alleges.

To keep the government from seizing the car, which was allegedly going to be used to transport drugs, he also agreed to register the car in the name of an undercover agent who posed as a friend of the confidential source.

Lila-Chavez allegedly told the agents that Brogden, “had done similar deals in the past” and that he “would be OK with the deal.”

The agents finally bought the car, a 2002 Honda Accord, for $14,168. “Following the instructions of Chavez and Brogden, the (confidential source) purchased $4,500 in money orders and provided them to (Lila-Chavez) along with $9,668 in cash,” the complaint said.

Two months later, the undercover agent and the confidential source went back to the business to buy another car. This time, they were looking for a car that could be outfitted with a hidden compartment for smuggling cocaine, according to the complaint.

THE COMPLAINT SAID Lila-Chavez sold them a 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and also offered to find someone to install secret electronic compartments to smuggle drugs, which he eventually did.

The complaint includes excerpts from conversations between the undercover agent and Lila-Chavez. Some of the conversations were translated.

In one of those conversations, the agent asked Lila-Chavez specifically if Brogden knew why they were buying the Monte Carlo. Lila-Chavez responded that Brogden knew what was going on, adding that he didn’t do it full-time because the area was “hot” due to the police.

The complaint also stated that the undercover agent paid a total of $11,600 for the car — $2,000 in money orders and $9,600 in cash — “as agreed upon” by the confidential source, Brogden and Lila-Chavez.

The bill of sale, however, showed that only $9,600 was paid for the car, the complaint said. The other $2,000, agents were told, was going to be financed through the dealership with charges adding up to $200.

Lila-Chavez explained that the dealership would use the money orders to make it look like payments had been spread out in fulfillment of the loan, according to the complaint. The agents were told to pick up the title in two to three months. By then, Lila-Chavez would have signed it to release the lien held by Brogden Cars Inc.

Brogden faces two counts of intent to conceal property believed to be the proceeds of unlawful activity and one count of structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements for these transactions.

In addition, he also faces one count of conspiracy to launder money, three counts of concealing the proceeds of unlawful activity, one count of structuring transactions and one count of intent to conceal property believed to be the proceeds of unlawful activity, for transactions he was allegedly involved in since 2002.

Brogden was released on a $50,000 secured bond on Dec. 5. He is due back in court Thursday.

As a condition of his release, the judge ordered Brogden to report to a probation officer, to surrender his passport and to avoid contact with Leetonya Miller, Héctor Gonzales Camacho, Juanita Lopez Rubio, Candelario Gonzales Camacho and José Valdez. These people were identified in court documents as victims or potential witnesses in the investigation.

During the investigation, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the DEA used consensually monitored and recorded conversations, physical surveillance, undercover officers and confidential sources.

The Alamance County Sheriff’s Department, the Burlington Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the State Bureau of Investigation and the state Department of Motor Vehicles were all involved in the case at different points in the investigation.

Local authorities had said that additional arrests are expected, but no details have been released yet.