Lying on a resume isn't uncommon, but forging documents to get a job definitely crosses the line. And that could be the line between freedom and jail if the forged document is supposed to be from a federal securities regulator, the Department of Justice says.

Federal prosecutors today charged Jorge Enrique Yepes, 41, of Miramar, Florida, with wire fraud for having forged S.E.C. documents to back up his phony job history while seeking a job as chief financial officer of an international company.

In pursuing the new job -- prosecutors did not identify the prospective employer, other than to say it is a packaging company -- Yepes allegedly claimed to be the vice president of finance for the Americas at a Fortune 500 company with $6.3 billion in sales.

Prosecutors didn't name that company, either, although Yepes once claimed that he had held that position at Avery Dennison, the Fortune 500 label maker based in Pasadena, California. Prosecutors said he was fired in 2006.

In shopping himself around to executive recruiters, Yepes apparently didn't mention his most recent job, as C.F.O. of Industrial Enterprises of America, a New York company that sells oil, antifreeze, and other automotive fluids and gases.

Perhaps that's because Industrial Enterprises fired Yepes in February, after less than six months on the job.

In his efforts to persuade his prospective new employer to hire him, Yepes, who was due to appear in federal court in Miami today, allegedly gave an executive recuiter a forged letter and phony email that appeared to have cleared him of any involvement in practices that sparked a federal investigation of Avery Dennison.

The stakes were high. The new job came with a $300,000 salary, a performance bonus, and and equity interest in the company, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan and the F.B.I.

Yepes surrendered to authorities Thursday. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years for each of three counts of wire fraud and a fine of $250,000. His attorney, David Markus, did not return a call for comment.

Prosecutors said that the forged letter, on S.E.C. stationary, purported to say the agency no longer needed his assistance in the investigation, and did not foresee any future actions against him. A phony email, apparently from an S.E.C. official, praised Yepes for providing valuable information and wished him "best of luck ... in future endeavors."

In fact, prosecutors said that commission investigators were still interested in interviewing Yepes as part of their inquiry.

by Elizabeth Olson