Southern District of Florida

Miami, Florida – Following a three-day trial, a federal jury in Key West, Florida found Sean Kerwin Bindranauth, 44, guilty of laundering $1 million derived from romance and investment fraud scams targeting elderly victims.

According to the evidence presented at trial, the victims of the romance scam were generally lonely older women who befriended the defendant’s co-conspirators, who posed as men living on oil rigs, serving in wars, or otherwise working in remote locations.  After establishing the on-line relationship, the “men” convinced the victims to send them money.  Other victims were misled by the defendant’s co-conspirators into investment scams.  One victim testified at trial that he was misled into believing that a $1,000 plunge into cryptocurrency would yield a $10,000 return.  In 2018 and 2019, victims of both scams were directed to send their money to Bindranauth, which they did by wire transfer, personal checks, or cash.  

Once Bindranauth received the money, he would send it from the United States to Nigeria through international money transfer companies and direct bank transfers.  Over a dozen seniors and other victims were tricked into sending Bindranauth and his co-conspirators approximately $1 million.  Evidence at trial also demonstrated that other victims sent Bindranauth cash via USPS and that Bindranauth purchased gift cards and sent the gift card information to his co-conspirators in Nigeria to use.  A forensic analyst testified that the loss to victims as a result of this part of the scheme was impossible to trace.

The jury found Bindranauth guilty of conspiring to commit money laundering and six counts of substantive money laundering, as well as conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business.  U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore will sentence Bindranauth on January 10, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. in federal district court in Key West.  Bindranauth faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy, 20 years in prison for each money laundering count, and five years in prison for unlicensed money transmitting, in addition to fines.  

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

HSI Miami, Key West Office, investigated the case, with assistance from Florida Department of Law Enforcement.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman and Yisel Valdes are prosecuting the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniele Croke handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 19-cr-10016.

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Miami, Florida – South Florida federal prosecutors have charged a Davie, Florida company specializing in wholesale reptile sales and its owner for their roles in a scheme to unlawfully enrich themselves and others by smuggling illegally-harvested Florida turtles out of the United States and into China, Japan, and other places.    

According to the information filed in Miami federal district court, from approximately April 2017 through April 2019, 54-year-old Davie resident Michael Van Nostrand, his company, Strictly Reptiles, Inc., and others established a network of “collectors” who searched in the Florida wilds for certain fresh-water turtle specimens.  Contrary to federal law, the collectors captured the protected turtles and turned them over to Van Nostrand, says the information.  Then, to make it appear to customers that he and his company had legitimately obtained the turtles, it is alleged that Van Nostrand falsely labeled the turtles as having been bred in captivity.  It is also alleged that Van Nostrand’s co-conspirators – the “collectors” -- represented in federal export disclosure documents that the turtles were captive- bred, rather than wild-caught, which was a lie.  According to the information, Van Nostrand, Strictly Reptiles, and their co-conspirators trafficked hundreds of illegally-harvested Florida turtles for profit, including the principal species – Florida three-stripe mud turtles (Kinsperson baurii), pictured above.

Harvesting and selling wild-caught Florida fresh-water turtles is illegal.  The information charges Van Nostrand and Strictly Reptiles of conspiring with others to illegally traffic wildlife.  Van Nostrand made his first court appearance in this case today, in federal magistrate court in Miami.  If convicted, Van Nostrand faces up to five years in prison, plus supervised release and a fine of at least $250,000. V Strictly Reptiles, if convicted, faces a criminal fine of at least $500,000.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Stephen Clark, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Region IV, Office of Law Enforcement, Atlanta; and Colonel Roger Young, Director, Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission, Law Enforcement Division made the announcement.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission jointly investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas A. Watts-FitzGerald is prosecuting it.

Criminal complaints, informations and indictments contain mere allegations and defendants are innocent unless and until found guilty in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20495-Williams.

Photograph courtesy of Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Note: Photograph courtesy of Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

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Miami, Florida – A federal district judge in Miami has sentenced 27-year-old Hialeah resident Roberto Ortiz to 78 months’ imprisonment, followed by eight years of supervised release, for possessing approximately 1,700 images and 40 videos of child pornography. 

From 2019 until his arrest on July 30, 2020, Ortiz worked as a mathematics teacher at American Senior High School, a public school in South Florida.  Prior to that, Mr. Ortiz served as a teacher at Jose Marti High School in Miami and at Youth Co-Op Preparatory Charter School in Hialeah, a school which includes students as young as five.  

Based on information presented to the court, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant for Ortiz’s home after their investigation determined that a computer user at the residence was downloading and sharing child pornography by means of peer-to-peer file-sharing software.  Pursuant to their search, agents seized several electronic devices from the home, including a laptop belonging to Ortiz.  A forensic analysis of that laptop revealed over 1,700 files of child pornography.

On April 13, Ortiz pled guilty to possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke imposed the sentence.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, announced the sentence.

FBI Miami investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sajjad Matin prosecuted it.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 20-cr-20206-MGC.

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Miami, Florida – Today, a South Florida federal district judge sentenced a Vero Beach drug dealer who drove around town with fentanyl, a loaded semi-automatic firearm, and tens of thousands of dollars in cash to 106 months in federal prison.

On February 23, 2020, law enforcement officers arrested 34-year-old Burnell Heiges Emlet, III, after finding him slumped over the steering wheel of a car that was sitting at a stop light.  With him inside car, Emlet had a loaded semi-automatic firearm with a large capacity magazine, as well as 76 prepacked baggies of fentanyl.  Emlet was charged with state crimes and released on bond.  Officers arrested Emlet again on May 22, 2020, following a traffic stop.  This time, Emlet had 1,700 prepackaged baggies of fentanyl and more than $55,000 in cash with him inside the car.  After this arrest, Emlet’s state bond was revoked.

In 2021, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida charged Emlet with federal gun and drug trafficking crimes relating to the February 2020 arrest.  A federal magistrate judge ordered him detained pre-trial, without bond.  On July 15, 2021, Emlet pled guilty in federal district court to possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks imposed today’s sentence.   

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; La Verne J. Hibbert; Acting Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division; and David E. Currey, Chief of Police, Vero Beach Police Department, announced the sentence.  

DEA Miami and Vero Beach PD investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter prosecuted it.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-14012.

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Miami, Florida – Forty-three-year-old Christopher C. Pinkston was sentenced his week to over 13 years in federal prison for robbing three South Florida banks and attempting to rob a fourth during a one-month crime spree earlier this year. Pinkston had already served nearly twelve years in federal prison for a string of bank robberies in 2006 in the Western District of Missouri.     

According to court records, at about 1:30 p.m. on February 11, Pinkston entered the Chase Bank located at 13745 S.W. 152nd Street in Miami, approached a teller window, and handed the teller a note saying: "I need 30,000 Dollars or everybodys [sic] Dead." The victim teller gave Pinkston $1,000 in cash, after which Pinkston exited the bank, leaving the demand note behind. Pinkston robbed a second bank at about 1:30 p.m. on February 19. He entered the City National Bank located at 13780 S.W. 88th St. in Miami, approached a teller window, and handed the teller a note saying: "Good morning this is a robbery Handover $30,000 you have less than one min no ink bombs or trackers Thank you [sic]." The victim teller handed Pinkston $5,100 in cash, after which Pinkston exited the bank, leaving the demand note behind.  

On March 5, the defendant entered a TD Bank in Palmetto Bay, approached a desk of one of the TD Bank employees, sat down, and handed the employee a note demanding $30,000. When the employee informed the defendant that she did not have any cash in her cash box, he took back his demand note and left the bank. The employee recalled that the note began, “This is a robbery, I need $30,000.” Only 15 minute later, the defendant walked into another Chase Bank in Miami located about a mile from the previous attempted robbery. The defendant approached one of the teller windows and handed the teller a note demanding $30,000: “This is a robbery I need $30,000 make it quick.” The defendant walked out of the bank with $24,900.

On September 29, 2021, Pinkston pled guilty to two counts of bank robbery in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2113(a).  U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas imposed Pinkston’s sentence.

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida and FBI Miami Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro announced the sentence. 

FBI Miami investigated this case, with cooperation and assistance from Miami Dade Police Department and City of Miami Police Department, Special Investigations Section.  Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Egozi prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20194-WPD.

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Miami, Florida – Affordable Healthcare Solutions, LLC, d/b/a Affordable Healthcare Solutions 1, LLC has pled guilty and was sentenced in South Florida federal court to Receiving Adulterated Devices in Interstate Commerce and Delivery for Pay with Intent to Defraud or Mislead, in violation of 21 USC 331(c) and 333(a)(2).

According to the facts admitted at the change of plea, on May 11, 2016, Special Agents with the United States Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, executed a search warrant at Affordable Healthcare Solutions 1, LLC (Affordable Healthcare), a business managed by R.A.  During the search, agents located and seized unapproved, foreign-market Supartz Euflexxa, Synvisc, Synvisc-One, and Orthovisc, which are prescription hyaluronic acid (HA) medical devices intended for the treatment of pain in osteoarthritis of the knee that must be injected by a doctor or other qualified health care professional.  Because these prescription medical devices lacked FDA approval for distribution and use in the United States, they were adulterated.

Under 21 U.S.C. § 331(c), it is unlawful to receive in interstate commerce an adulterated device and to deliver or proffer delivery of such device to others for pay or otherwise. Reviews of the labeling conducted by FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health on the injectable HA devices seized from Affordable Care confirmed various differences between the outer box and carton labels, patient information brochures, and instructions for use between the FDA-approved labeling for Supartz, Orthovisc, Synvisc, Synvisc-One and Euflexxa versus the labeling included with the unapproved versions being distributed by Affordable Healthcare. The value of the devices seized were in excess of $800,000.

As a result of the plea agreement, Affordable Healthcare Solutions, LLC pled guilty to a felony, was fined and ordered to forfeit the $837,000 worth of medical devices seized during the search warrant executed by Special Agents with the FDA.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge, Justin C. Fielder, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, Miami Field Office, announced the felony guilty plea and sentence.

“Medical device suppliers whose greed leads them to disregard FDA protocols and approval processes put the public in danger” said Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.  “These are serious crimes and, in our district, companies that put profit over patient safety will be held accountable.” 

“FDA regulates the manufacturing and distribution of medical devices to help ensure the safety of American patients,” said Special Agent in Charge Fielder. “Today’s announcement should serve as a reminder of the FDA’s continued focus on companies that put profits ahead of the U.S. public health.”

FDA-OCI Miami investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurence Bardfeld is prosecuting it.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Brown is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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Miami, Florida – Today, a South Florida federal district judge sentenced Paul Nicholas Miller, 33, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to 41 months’ imprisonment followed by three years’ supervised release for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in 2018, possessing ammunition as a convicted felon in 2021, and possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle in 2021.

Miller, who had previously been convicted of three separate felony offenses in New Jersey, took a live firearms training in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in January 2018, during which he fired a handgun. Miller then used the certificate of completion from this training to apply to Florida authorities for a concealed weapon license. In this application, Miller falsely affirmed that he had never been convicted of a felony. Florida authorities denied Miller’s application due to his prior felony convictions. Federal law enforcement then arrested Miller on March 2, 2021 after a federal grand jury returned an indictment in connection with Miller’s 2018 conduct.

After this arrest, law enforcement discovered an unregistered short-barreled rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition inside Miller’s home. Miller admitted that he had bought the ammunition and that he had tried to build his own rifle in part to learn about firearms manufacturing in preparation for a coming civil war. In the months immediately before his arrest, Miller had made hundreds of internet posts publicizing his animosity towards various minority groups and his support for the initiation of a race-based civil war in the United States.

A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment adding two counts for Miller’s 2021 possession of the ammunition and the unregistered short-barreled rifle law enforcement found in his home. On June 22, Miller pled guilty to all three charges in the superseding indictment before U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, who imposed today’s sentence.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George Piro, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Miami Division, made the announcement.

FBI handled the investigation, with assistance from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kiran N. Bhat prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-60067-CR-Singhal/Snow(s).

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Miami, Florida – A California tobacco company executive on Thursday admitted his participation in a fraudulent scheme to avoid the payment of millions of dollars in excise taxes on imported tobacco products.

Akrum Alrahib, 43, of Los Angeles, California, was the President of Trendsettah USA, Inc. (“Trendsettah”), a California tobacco company authorized to transact business in Florida.  Trendsettah sold various tobacco products, such as large cigars, and marijuana paraphernalia, such as “blunt wraps,” most of which were imported from the Dominican Republic through Miami.

As part of his guilty plea, Alrahib admitted that he partnered with Gitano Pierre Bryant, Jr., a tobacco importer authorized by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), to import large cigars.  Alrahib and Bryant agreed to lower their costs by underreporting the Federal Tobacco Excise Tax that was due and owing on the imported cigars.  They consistently evaded Federal Tobacco Excise Tax by concealing the price Alrahib actually paid for the cigars.

During the course of the scheme, Alrahib paid over $21 million for Dominican tobacco products and received over $700,000 in kickbacks from Bryant.  

Alrahib also admitted his participation in a witness tampering scheme, in which he sought to prevent a witness from testifying before a South Florida Grand Jury.

Alrahib pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.  Alrahib can be sentenced to up to five years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution.  Sentencing has been scheduled before District Judge Rodney Smith in Fort Lauderdale on December 3, 2021.

Bryant, Alrahib’s partner, was charged in a separate case (16-cr-20838).  He pled guilty, was sentenced to four years in prison, and ordered to pay over $9 million in restitution.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Carrie May, Acting Assistant Administrator for Field Operations, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), and Darrell J. Waldon, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington, DC Field Office, made the announcement.

TTB and IRS-CI investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Browne and Jerrob Duffy of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling the asset forfeiture component of the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 19-cr-20165.

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Miami, FL – Two south Florida women were sentenced yesterday for their roles in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain credit cards that they and other individuals used to purchase over $100,000 of personal cosmetic services.

Sheena Ceasar, 35, of Coconut Creek, and Dekita Bellamy, 37, of Coral Springs, were each sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman to terms of imprisonment of 44 months and 32 months, respectively, with each term of imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release.  Judge Altman ordered forfeiture and restitution of $82,151.50 as to Ceasar and $94,968 as to Bellamy.  Both defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, as charged in an indictment.

Bellamy and Ceasar carried out the conspiracy by purloining personally identifiable information (PII) of unsuspecting victims, including names, social security numbers, and dates of birth, to apply for and receive credit cards.  In addition to using the credit cards to purchase cosmetic services for themselves, defendants reaped ill-gotten gains by supplying the cards to co-conspirators so they could purchase expensive cosmetic services in exchange for a fee, which was typically half the value of the desired service.  Seven other co-conspirators have been charged with, and pleaded guilty to, federal felonies in connection with this criminal activity:

• Shenika Denise Myers, 37, of Lauderhill, Florida pleaded guilty on September 3, 2021 to aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.
• Sayyada Samira Whiters, 33, of Coconut Creek, Florida, pleaded guilty on August 13, 2021 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.
• Trenasha Lashay Johnson, 36, of Cape Coral, Florida pleaded guilty to August 3, 2021 to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing.
• Janiqua Oliphant, 31, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and was sentenced on October 14, 2020 to 24 months’ imprisonment.
• Sheena White, 35, of Pompano Beach, Florida pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and was sentenced on September 24, 2020 to 24 months’ imprisonment.
• Nikki Butler, 40, of Pompano Beach, Florida pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and was sentenced on September 15, 2020 to time served with 3 years of supervised release that included 360 days of home detention.
• Lucretia Ford, 31, of Coconut Creek, Florida pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and was sentenced on June 3, 2020 to 3 years’ probation.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.  USSS Miami investigated the cases, with assistance from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Snider is prosecuting the cases.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 19-cr-60380 (United States v. Dekita Bellamy et al.), 21-cr-60063 (United States v. Shenika Denise Myers), 21-cr-60062 (United States v. Sayyada Samira Whiters), 20-cr-60079 (United States v. Trenasha Lashay Johnson), 19-cr-60361 (United States v. Sheena White),19-cr-60356 (United States v. Nikki Butler), and 19-cr-60357 (United States v. Lucretia Ford).

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Miami, Florida – A Washington man was sentenced yesterday to over eight years in federal prison for defrauding Tricare of approximately $19.4 million through a South Florida compounding pharmacy fraud scheme. Tricare is the health care benefit program for the United States Department of Defense.

Jonah Miller, 48, of Shoreline, Washington, pleaded guilty on July 15, to one count of conspiring to commit health care fraud. Miller recruited Tricare beneficiaries to order expensive, medically unnecessary compound drugs from a Broward pharmacy. In furtherance of the scheme, Miller paid doctors to approve pre-printed prescriptions for excessive amounts of the expensive drugs without regard to the beneficiaries’ actual medical needs. Investigation revealed that the drugs were formulated to maximize profit without legitimate therapeutic value. Miller’s fraudulent referrals caused an actual loss to the Tricare program of approximately $19.4 million. In exchange for the referrals, Miller personally received over $4.9 million from the pharmacy. In addition to the prison sentence, the Court imposed restitution in the amount of approximately $19.4 million and a forfeiture judgment of approximately $4.9 million. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Cynthia A. Bruce, Southeast Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI Miami made the announcement.

The DCIS and FBI Miami investigated the case, with assistance from the Food and Drug Administration-Office of Criminal Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jon Juenger prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daren Grove is handling the asset forfeiture component of the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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Miami, Florida – A Vero Beach woman who stole money from clients she was supposed to be helping resolve federal tax debt was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Miami to 63 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $867,593.11 in restitution to her victims.

Between 2013 and 2020, Jocelyn Antonia Lynch, 40, held herself out as a person who could help clients settle outstanding tax debt owed to the Internal Revenue Service. After claiming she negotiated agreements with the IRS, she instructed client taxpayers to deposit payments into her personal bank account based on the false representation that she would forward the money to the IRS. Bank records showed that numerous deposits from the client taxpayers were used to pay her personal expenses, not the client taxpayers’ tax liabilities. To hide her fraudulent behavior, she lied to clients about having made payments and provided multiple clients with fraudulent payment receipts. A total of 16 victims were defrauded.

On April 28, 2021, Lynch pled guilty to eight counts of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez imposed the sentence.

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Mark H. Morini, Jr. for the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Southern Field Division, announced the sentence.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Funk prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-14004.

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A Peruvian national was sentenced to serve 110 months in prison for operating a series of call centers in Peru that defrauded Spanish-speaking U.S. residents by falsely threatening them with arrest, deportation and other legal consequences.

Henrry Adrian Milla Campuzano, 37, from Lima, Peru, pleaded guilty for his role in conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud through two Peruvian call centers that he owned and operated.  The defendant, along with his co-conspirators, used false statements and threats to obtain money from Spanish-speaking individuals across the United States by falsely telling victims that they were required to accept and pay for English-language courses and other educational products and that failure to do so placed them in legal jeopardy. The defendant and his co-conspirators falsely threatened to have their victims arrested and deported in order to collect millions of dollars from victims in South Florida and across the United States. With today’s sentencing in Miami, five defendants have been sentenced to serve substantial terms of incarceration in this matter. 

“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue and prosecute transnational criminals who defraud vulnerable U.S. consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department's Civil Division. “The defendants in this case defrauded immigrants by falsely promising free products to improve their English. In reality, the defendants were luring their victims into a trap of intimidation and fear, leaving them far worse off – with substantial financial losses and, often, emotional scars from these crimes.  With today’s sentence, five defendants in this case have been brought to justice, demonstrating that those who prey upon U.S. consumers from abroad cannot do so with impunity.”

“This case demonstrates that the long arm of justice has no limits when it comes to reaching fraudsters who prey on our nation’s most vulnerable populations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida.  “We will continue to bring American justice to transnational criminals who use fear tactics and intimidation to steal money from immigrants, seniors and others who live in this country.”   

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service constantly strives to protect our communities from predatory criminals seeking to abuse and exploit the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Inspector in Charge Joseph W. Cronin of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Miami Division. “This particular case is an example of how postal inspectors will vigorously pursue these types of crime and ensure that the perpetrators will be brought to justice to pay for the crimes they have committed.” 

In pleading guilty, Milla admitted that he and his employees falsely claimed to be lawyers, court officials, federal agents and representatives of a so-called “minor crimes court,” which does not exist. The callers falsely threatened victims with court proceedings, negative marks on their credit reports, imprisonment and immigration consequences if they did not immediately pay for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees.

Milla was the co-owner of the Latinos en Accion and Accion Latino call centers in Lima, Peru. From April 2011 until his arrest in July 2019, he and his co-conspirators called victims, as well as victims’ family members and friends, and fraudulently threatened them with legal consequences if they did not make payments for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees for English language classes.

Milla was arrested in January 2020 by Peruvian authorities based on a U.S. extradition request. He and four co-defendants were extradited to the Southern District of Florida in October 2020. Those five defendants have now all pleaded guilty and received significant prison sentences from U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. In addition to Milla, Jerson Renteria was sentenced to 100 months in prison, and Fernan Huerta, Omar Cuzcano and Evelyng Milla were each sentenced to serve 90 months in prison.

Two additional defendants in the case – Carlos Espinoza Huerta and Josmell Espinoza Huerta – evaded arrest at the time of their co-defendants’ arrests. They were subsequently located in Peru and extradited to the United States on June 25, and are being detained at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. Their trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 14, 2022, before Judge Scola.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch investigated the case. Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Max Goldman of the Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. The Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and the Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance. 

The Consumer Protection Branch coordinates the Department’s Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, working with United States Attorney’s Offices and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute scams run by transnational criminal organizations, including mass mailing, telemarketing and tech support scams. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Note: A Spanish version of this press release is available here. 

WASHINGTON – Un ciudadano peruano fue sentenciado a 110 meses en prisión por operar una serie de centros de llamadas en Perú que defraudaron a residentes estadounidenses de habla hispana, amenazándolos falsamente con arresto, deportación y otras consecuencias.

Henrry Adrian Milla Campuzano, 37, de Lima, Perú, se declaró culpable por su papel en la conspiración para cometer fraude postal y fraude electrónico por medio de dos centros de llamadas peruanos que él poseía y operaba. El acusado, junto con sus cómplices, utilizó declaraciones falsas y amenazas para obtener dinero de personas de habla hispana en todo Estados Unidos al indicar falsamente a las víctimas que debían aceptar y pagar cursos de inglés y otros productos educativos y que si no lo hacían se pondrían en peligro legal. El acusado y sus cómplices amenazaron falsamente con arrestar y deportar a sus víctimas para cobrar millones de dólares a víctimas en el sur de Florida y en todo Estados Unidos. Con la sentencia de hoy en Miami, cinco acusados fueron condenados a cumplir importantes condenas de encarcelamiento en este asunto

“La Rama de Protección al Consumidor del Departamento de Justicia perseguirá y enjuiciará a los delincuentes transnacionales que defrauden a los consumidores estadounidenses vulnerables”, dijo Brian M. Boynton, Secretario Interino de Justicia Auxiliar. “Los acusados en este caso defraudaron descaradamente a personas recién inmigradas prometiéndoles productos gratuitos para mejorar su inglés. En realidad, los acusados atarían a sus víctimas a una trampa de intimidación y miedo, que los dejaba mucho peor, con importantes pérdidas financieras y, muchas veces, cicatrices emocionales por estos crímenes. Con la sentencia de hoy, cinco acusados en este caso comparecieron ante la justicia, lo que demuestra que quienes se aprovechan de los consumidores estadounidenses desde el extranjero no lo pueden hacer con impunidad”.

“Este caso demuestra que el largo brazo de la justicia no tiene límites cuando se trata de llegar a los estafadores que se aprovechan de las poblaciones más vulnerables de nuestra nación”, dijo el Fiscal Federal Interino, Juan Antonio González, del Distrito Sur de Florida. "Continuaremos llevando la justicia estadounidense a los delincuentes transnacionales que utilizan tácticas de miedo e intimidación para robarle dinero a inmigrantes, personas mayores y otras personas que viven en este país".

“El Servicio de Inspección Postal de EE. UU. constantemente se esfuerza por proteger a nuestras comunidades de los delincuentes depredadores que buscan abusar y explotar a los miembros más vulnerables de nuestra sociedad”, dijo Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector a Cargo de la División de USPIS en Miami. "Este caso particular es un ejemplo de cómo los inspectores postales perseguirán enérgicamente este tipo de delitos y se asegurarán de que se lleva a los perpetradores ante la justicia para pagar por los delitos que han cometido.

Al declararse culpable, Milla admitió que él y sus empleados falsamente afirmaron ser abogados, funcionarios judiciales, agentes federales y representantes de un llamado "tribunal de delitos menores", que no existe. Las personas que llamaron amenazaron falsamente a las víctimas con procedimientos judiciales, marcas negativas en sus informes de crédito, encarcelamiento y consecuencias de inmigración si no pagaban de inmediato los productos supuestamente entregados y las tarifas de liquidación.

Milla era copropietario de los centros de llamadas Latinos en Acción y Acción Latino en Lima, Perú. Desde abril de 2011 hasta su arresto en julio de 2019, él y sus cómplices llamaron a las víctimas, así como a familiares y amigos de las víctimas, y las amenazaron fraudulentamente con consecuencias legales si no pagaban los productos supuestamente entregados y las tarifas de liquidación de clases de inglés.

Las autoridades peruanas arrestaron a Milla en enero de 2020, basado en la solicitud de extradición de Estados Unidos. El y cuatro coacusados fueron extraditados al Distrito Sur de Florida en octubre de 2020. Ahora se declaró culpables a estos cinco acusados y el Juez Federal de Distrito, Robert N. Scola, Jr., les impuso importantes sentencias de prisión. Además de Milla, Jerson Rentería fue sentenciado a 100 meses en prisión y Fernan Huerta, Omar Cuzcano y Evelyng Milla fueron condenadas a cumplir 90 meses en prisión, cada uno.

Dos acusados adicionales en el caso, Carlos Espinoza Huerta y Josmell Espinoza Huerta, evitaron el arresto al momento de la detención de sus cinco coacusados en Perú. Luego se localizaron y el 25 de junio fueron extraditados a Estados Unidos y se encuentran detenidos en el Centro Federal de Detención de Miami. Su juicio está programado para dar inicio el 14 de febrero de 2022, ante el Juez Scola.

Otros dos acusados en el caso, Carlos Alberto Espinoza Huerta y Josmell Arturo Espinoza Huerta, evitaron el arresto al momento de la detención de sus cinco coacusados en Perú. Luego se localizaron y el 25 de junio fueron extraditados a Estados Unidos y se encuentran detenidos en el Centro Federal de Detención de Miami. Su juicio está programado para dar inicio el 14 de febrero de 2022, ante el Juez Scola.

El Servicio de Inspección Postal de EE. UU. y la División de Protección al Consumidor de la División Civil investigaron el caso. El Fiscal Auxiliar Principal, Phil Toomajian y el abogado litigante de la Rama de Protección al Consumidor, Max Goldman, están procesando el caso. La Comisión Federal de Comercio, la Oficina de Asuntos Internacionales del Departamento de Justicia, la Fiscalía de Estados Unidos para el Distrito Sur de Florida, el Servicio de Seguridad Diplomática del Departamento de Estado y la Policía Nacional del Perú proporcionaron asistencia crucial.

La Rama de Protección al Consumidor coordina la Fuerza Transnacional de Lucha contra el Fraude de Ancianos del Departamento, trabajando junto con las Oficinas del Fiscal de Estados Unidos y las agencias de aplicación de la ley para investigar y procesar las estafas dirigidas por organizaciones criminales transnacionales, incluyendo las estafas de correo masivo, tele mercadeo y soporte técnico. Para más información sobre la Rama de Protección al Consumidor, visite su sitio web en http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch.

Una dictamen acusatorio simplemente es una acusación y todos los acusados se presumen inocentes hasta que se pruebe su culpabilidad, más allá de la duda razonable en un tribunal de justicia.

Miami, Florida – Friday, Miami resident Ramon Caridad Rodriguez, 28, made his first appearance in South Florida federal court to face a grand jury indictment charging him with defrauding his former employer, a religious charity organization that runs after-school programs for underprivileged immigrant children to help them avoid gangs and gang violence.

According to the indictment, Rodriguez abused the company’s trust by using a company credit card to make thousands of dollars’ worth of personal purchases and then attempted to conceal those purchases through lies and altered bank statements. Some of these purchases included items like lawn chairs, bug spray, tiki torches, and personal groceries. He used over $160,000 of the company’s money for his personal gain, says the indictment.

The indictment charges Rodriguez with nine counts of wire fraud.  If convicted, Rodriguez faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each charge. 

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, and Art Acevedo, Chief, City of Miami Police Department made the announcement.

USSS Miami and City of Miami PD investigated the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Yara Dodin is prosecuting it.

An indictment contains mere allegations. A defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20472.

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Miami, Florida – A grand jury in the Southern District of Florida has returned an indictment charging a South Florida man with crimes related to a one-night crime spree, including armed robbery, carjacking, and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

According to court documents, in the early hours of August 18, 2021, Frankie David Vargas, II, 33, robbed a Westar gas station in Miami, Florida.  Vargas, who was driving a stolen car, pulled up to the gas station, pointed a firearm at the attendant, and demanded that he open the register.  Vargas removed the cash from the till, stole the attendant’s cell phone, and drove off, say the court documents.   

It is alleged that after abandoning the stolen car, Vargas broke into an apartment where a mother and son were inside.  Vargas held the mother at gunpoint and ransacked the bedrooms, stealing jewelry and electronics.  After a struggle for the firearm, the mother hid in a bathroom, and her son woke up and joined her.  Vargas fired a shot, and the bullet went through the bathroom door and into the son’s chest, according to the charges.  Vargas then took the keys to the son’s Mercedes, stole the car, and fled.

The victims called 911, and the son was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and was admitted to the intensive care unit.

On August 19, 2021, Vargas was taken into custody by members of the South Florida Violent Crime and Fugitive Task Force (FBI Agents).  At the time of his arrest, it is alleged, Vargas had a loaded 9mm handgun in the waistband of his pants.  He was also wearing a watch that was identical to the one stolen from the apartment.

Vargas is currently being detained without bond.  If convicted, he faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI Miami Field Office, City of Miami Police Department and City of North Miami Police Department investigated the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Bailyn.

This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. 

Anyone with information related to a possible violent crime is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.

Criminal complaints and indictments contain mere allegations and defendants are innocent unless and until found guilty in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20479.

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Miami, Florida – A Lantana, Florida man, who plead guilty to distribution and possession of child sexual abuse material, was sentenced today in federal court in West Palm Beach to 102 months’ imprisonment, followed by 20 years’ supervised release and ordered to pay $31,000 restitution to victims.  

Between 2020 and 2021, Carl Lee Jasperse, 67, using the screenname “Dandy Daddy” used a mobile application to communicate with individuals about child sexual abuse material and trade the same.  He was found to be in possession of more than 4000 images and videos of child sexual abuse material when a search warrant was executed at his Lantana residence in January 2021.

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami, announced the sentence.  

HSI Miami’s West Palm Beach Office investigated the case in collaboration with the Lantana Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller is prosecuting it.  

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about the Project Safe Childhood initiative and for information regarding Internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report online child sexual exploitation, use the electronic Cyber Tip Line or call 1-800-843-5678.  The Cyber Tip Line is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in partnership with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-80025.

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Miami, Florida – Over 50 defendants were charged in the Southern District of Florida in the last six weeks, as part of a nationwide federal law enforcement action to combat health care fraud. 

The federal charges filed in South Florida cover a wide range of schemes, from novel crimes like theft of Covid-19 personal protection equipment and fraud connected to substance abuse treatment facilities (sober homes), to more familiar violations like health care fraud involving durable medical equipment suppliers, home health, pharmacies, payment of kickbacks, money laundering, and more.  It is alleged that $308 million in fraudulent claims was billed by the defendants charged in the Southern District of Florida during the six-week enforcement period.  Over $106 million of that billed amount was paid.    

Nationwide, 138 defendants, including 42 doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals, in 31 federal districts across the United States, were charged during the enforcement period for their alleged participation in various healthcare fraud schemes that resulted in approximately $1.4 billion in alleged losses. Nationally, the charges target approximately $1.1 billion in fraud committed using telemedicine (the use of telecommunications technology to provide health care services remotely), $29 million in COVID-19 health care fraud, $133 million connected to substance abuse treatment facilities, or “sober homes,” and $160 million connected to other health care fraud and illegal opioid distribution schemes across the country.

“The results of the coordinated law enforcement effort that we announce today exemplify my Office and its law enforcement partners’ enduring commitment to combatting all forms of health care fraud-related schemes.” said Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. “We will not relent in holding accountable those in South Florida who exploit health care programs and patient trust for personal gain, particularly during the COVID-19 global pandemic.”

“This nationwide enforcement action demonstrates that the Criminal Division is at the forefront of the fight against health care fraud and opioid abuse by prosecuting those who have exploited health care benefit programs and their patients for personal gain,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The charges announced today send a clear deterrent message and should leave no doubt about the department’s ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety of patients and the integrity of health care benefit programs, even amid a continued pandemic.”

Today’s enforcement actions were led and coordinated by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, in conjunction with its Health Care Fraud and Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force program, and its core partners, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as part of the department’s ongoing efforts to combat the devastating effects of health care fraud and the opioid epidemic.

The Southern District of Florida, in particular, worked with the Department’s Criminal Division and the following law enforcement organizations to investigate and prosecute the cases filed during the enforcement period: FBI Miami; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Region; Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), Atlanta Field Division; Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami; United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Region; Florida’s Office of the Attorney General, Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU); Florida State Attorney’s Office; City of Miami Beach Police Department; Palm Beach County Sober Homes Task Force; Amtrack Office of the Inspector General; and the Department of Insurance Fraud.

“South Florida is ground zero for health care fraud.  As such, the FBI and its partners devote vast resources to investigate, catch and prosecute those committing this fraud,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami.  The victims are U.S. taxpayers, you and me.  Our message to those who commit health care fraud and steal from U.S. taxpayers is clear: you will be caught, and you will be punished.”

“Healthcare fraud is hardly a victimless crime. The well-being and trust of patients and taxpayers are at risk when corrupt providers engage in schemes that drain taxpayer-funded health care programs and undermine impartial medical judgement,” said Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of HHS-OIG Miami. “These cases demonstrate our resolve to investigate bad actors and protect the patients served by vital federal health and human services programs.”

“Those who misuse the Social Security numbers of other individuals for personal gain are warned -- we will hold you accountable.” said Rodregas W. Owens, Special Agent-in-Charge, SSA-OIG, Atlanta Field Division. “We will continue to work aggressively to identify such fraud in an effort to protect taxpayers against fraud, waste, and abuse.”

“We as a law enforcement community will not allow individuals to defraud government health-care programs for their own personal gain,” said Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, HSI Miami. “HSI and its partners will continue to pursue individuals and companies who are taking advantage of innocent patients seeking medical care.”

“My Medicaid Fraud Control Unit works tirelessly to stop the exploitation of the taxpayer-funded Medicaid program and protect the vulnerable Floridians who rely on its services. I’m proud of our partnership with federal authorities to hold these criminals abusing the system accountable,” said Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody.

COVID-19 Fraud Cases

Across the nation, nine defendants are charged with engaging in various health care fraud schemes designed to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the submission of over $29 million in false billings.

In the Southern District of Florida, for example, a defendant is charged with stealing personal protective equipment from a hospital and reselling it at inflated prices:   

In U.S. v. Rickey Delancey, Jr., Case No. 21-20471-Cr-Moore, a 30-year-old Miami resident is charged by indictment with conspiracy to steal medical products, theft of medical products, and transportation of stolen goods. According to the indictment, Delancey worked in the supplies department of Mount Sinai Hospital. From about April to November 2020, Delancey stole N95 masks and other medical supplies from his workplace and sold them to various purchasers.  Among other items, he sold $55,000 worth of stolen masks to a purchaser in California, says the indictment. As a result of the thefts, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mount Sinai did not have the supplies needed for nurses, doctors, staff, and patients, and at one point was down to only a three-day supply of N95 masks.

FBI Miami and USPIS Miami investigated this case, along with City of Miami Beach Police Department.  Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman is prosecuting it.

The law enforcement action today also includes criminal charges against five defendants across the country who allegedly engaged in the misuse of Provider Relief Fund monies. The Provider Relief Fund is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a federal law enacted March 2020 designed to provide needed medical care to Americans suffering from COVID-19.

The COVID-19 cases announced today build upon the success of the COVID-19 Health Care Fraud Takedown on May 26, a coordinated law enforcement action against 14 defendants in seven judicial districts for over $128 million in false billings. The law enforcement action and the cases announced today were brought in coordination with the Health Care Fraud Unit’s COVID-19 Interagency Working Group, which is chaired by the National Rapid Response Strike Force and organizes efforts to address illegal activity involving health care programs during the pandemic.

Sober Homes Cases

Today’s announcement of sober homes cases charged across the nation coincides with the one-year anniversary of the first national sober homes initiative in 2020, which included charges against more than a dozen criminal defendants in connection with more than $845 million of allegedly false and fraudulent claims for tests and treatments for vulnerable patients seeking treatment for drug and/or alcohol addiction. The over $133 million in false and fraudulent claims that are additionally alleged in cases announced today reflect the continued effort by the National Rapid Response Strike Force and the Health Care Fraud Unit’s Los Angeles Strike Force, with the participation of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California and the Southern District of Florida, to prosecute those who participated in illegal kickback and bribery schemes involving the referral of patients to substance abuse treatment facilities; those patients could be subjected to medically unnecessary drug testing – often billing thousands of dollars for a single test – and therapy sessions that frequently were not provided, and which resulted in millions of dollars of false and fraudulent claims being submitted to private insurers.

In the Southern District of Florida, two defendants are charged with sober homes fraud:

In United States v. Mimi Bieda and Levi Bieda a/k/a Larry, Case No. 21-80112-CR-Rosenberg, Mimi Bieda, 62, and Levi Bieda, 36, of West Palm Beach, Florida, are charged by information with conspiracy to commit $128 million of health care fraud.  According to the information, the Biedas owned and operated Academy Health Solutions, LLC (“Academy”), a substance abuse treatment center in Palm Beach County, Florida, as well as a sober home and detox facilities.  They also had ownership interest in several drug testing laboratories.  It is alleged that the Biedas hired a medical director for Academy, Dr. Michael Ligotti, who signed standing orders for medically unnecessary and expensive drug testing in exchange for patient referrals. Dr. Ligotti then billed the patients’ insurance plans for duplicative, excessive, non-rendered, and/or medically unnecessary treatment and testing.  The Biedas used the standing orders signed by Dr. Ligotti, and by a subsequent medical director at Academy, to authorize medically unnecessary drug testing at laboratories in which they had an ownership interest, allowing them to receive percentages of all claim reimbursements for those tests, says the information. It is alleged that the Biedas also paid kickbacks and bribes, in the form of free or reduced rent, access to controlled substances provided by Academy’s medical directors, and other benefits, to individuals who agreed to live at their sober home, attend treatment at Academy, and submit to drug testing, so that the Biedas could bill these services to the residents’ insurance plans. 

FBI Miami investigated this case, along with Palm Beach County Sober Homes Task Force, Florida State Attorney’s Office, Amtrack Office of the Inspector General, and Department of Insurance Fraud.  Southern District of Florida Assistant United States Attorneys Alexandra Chase and Danielle Croke, as well as National Rapid Response Strike Force Senior Litigation Counsel James V. Hayes and Trial Attorney Ligia Markman are prosecuting it.  

Cases Involving Traditional Healthcare Fraud Schemes and the Illegal Prescription and/or Distribution of Opioids

The cases announced today that fall into more traditional categories of health care fraud include charges filed across the nation against over 60 defendants who allegedly participated in schemes to submit more than $145 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and private insurance companies for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided. Cases filed across the nation involving the illegal prescription and/or distribution of opioids involve 19 defendants, including several charges against medical professionals and others who prescribed over 12 million doses of opioids and other prescription narcotics, while submitting over $14 million in false billings.

In the Southern District of Florida, defendants are charged in cases involving a wide range of traditional health care fraud schemes.  Some of the cases charged in the Southern District of Florida during the six-week enforcement period include the following:

In United States v. Edward Pizzi, Case No. 21-20467-CR-Altman, a 40-year-old from Miami, Florida is charged by information with conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks. According to the information, Pizzi owned and operated Miami-based Rios Medical Center and Union Medical Clinic. Pizzi directed his employees to pay kickbacks to recruit Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid recipients to the clinics.  The clinics used the identification numbers of these beneficiaries and recipients to submit claims to Medicare Part C and Medicaid for, among other things, purported mental health therapy services.  Most of the recruited beneficiaries neither needed nor qualified for such services.  

FBI Miami, HHS-OIG Miami, and MFCU investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Homer is prosecuting it. 

In United States v. Mayara Gonzalez Chaviano, Case No. 21-20468-CR-King, a 28-year-old Miami, Florida resident is charged by information with conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks.  According to the information, Chaviano was the office manager of Rios Medical Center and Union Medical Clinic, in Miami, Florida.  Chaviano managed the clinics’ scheme to pay kickbacks to recruit Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid recipients to the clinics. The clinics used the identification numbers of these beneficiaries and recipients to submit claims to Medicare Part C and Medicaid for, among other things, purported mental health therapy services.  Most of the recruited beneficiaries neither needed nor qualified for such services. 

FBI Miami, HHS-OIG Miami, and MFCU investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Homer is prosecuting it.

In United States v. Liliana Liseth Duarte, Case No. 21-20469-CR-Bloom, a 47-year-old resident of Miami, Florida, is charged by information with conspiracy to pay health care kickbacks.  According to the information, Duarte was an employee of Rios Medical Center and Union Medical Clinic, in Miami, Florida. Duarte paid kickbacks to individuals to recruit Medicare beneficiaries and Medicaid recipients to the clinics. The clinics used the identification numbers of these beneficiaries and recipients to submit claims to Medicare Part C and Medicaid for, among other things, purported mental health therapy services.  Most of the recruited beneficiaries neither needed nor qualified for such services. 

FBI Miami, HHS-OIG Miami, MFCU investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Homer is prosecuting it.

In United States v. Jason Kashou, Case No. 21-60245-CR-Dimitrouleas, the 35-year-old owner of 1st Choice is charged by information with conspiracy to solicit and receive illegal kickbacks from pharmacies. Kashou bought Medicare and Medicaid beneficiary information from a call center in India. Kashou then agreed to provide the beneficiary information to pharmacies so that the pharmacies could fill prescriptions for expensive diabetic supplies and topical pain creams. In exchange, the pharmacies agreed to pay Kashou a percentage of the profits from the amount Medicare and Medicaid paid on a per patient basis. 

On September 14, Kashou pled guilty to the charge.  His sentencing hearing is set for November 23, at 1:15 p.m., before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas.

HSI Miami, HHS-OIG Miami and MFCU investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Hauser and Michael Gilfarb are prosecuting it.

In United States v. Greisy Rosario Varona Docasal, Case No. 21-20439-CR-Cooke, a 52-year-old Miami, Florida resident is charged by indictment with conspiracy to receive health care kickbacks, and substantive counts of receiving kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program. According t0 the indictment, Varona Docasal, as office manager of a doctor’s office, was involved in a scheme to illegally recruit Medicare beneficiaries and refer them to home health agencies in exchange for receiving illegal kickbacks from the owners and operators of the home health agencies who in turn billed Medicare for home health services for the recruited Medicare beneficiaries.

HHS-OIG Miami investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Aimee C. Jimenez is prosecuting it.

In United States v. Mayra De La Paz, Case No. 21-20474-CR-Bloom, a 69-year-old resident of Hialeah, Florida is charged by information with conspiracy to solicit and receive kickbacks in connection with a federal health care program.  According to the information, De La Paz participated in a conspiracy to solicit and receive kickback payments for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries to a home health agency.

HHS-OIG Miami and FBI Miami investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Abraham is prosecuting it.

In U.S. v. Michael Marcelus Mogollon, Case No. 21-20432-CR-Moore, a 33-year-old from Miami, Florida is charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. According to the information, Mogollon paid kickbacks to beneficiaries with Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance in exchange for the patients allowing Miami clinics Quality Professional, Zion Medical, and Renewal to bill the insurance plans for medical benefits, items, and services, that were not medically necessary, not eligible for reimbursement, and not received by the beneficiaries. As a result of Mogollon’s participation in the conspiracy, the clinics billed Blue Cross Blue Shield approximately $678,800, and Blue Cross Blue Shield paid approximately $220,000 based on the false claims, says the information.

FBI Miami investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman is prosecuting it.    

In U.S. v. Jorge Luis Taboada, Case No. 21-20443-CR-Williams, a 52-year-old resident of Miami, Florida is charged by information with conspiracy to commit health care and wire fraud. According to the information, Taboada paid kickbacks to beneficiaries with Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna health insurance in exchange for the patients allowing United Medical of South Florida, d/b/a Sleep Study of South Florida, Inc. to bill the insurance plans for medical benefits, items, and services, that were not medically necessary, not eligible for reimbursement, and not received by the beneficiaries. As a result of Taboada’s participation in the conspiracy, the clinics billed Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna between $1,500,000 and $3,500,000, says the information. 

FBI Miami investigated this case.  Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman is prosecuting it.    

In United States of America vs. Patricia M. Cleary, a/k/a Patricia M. Cleary Syling, a/k/a Patricia M. Syling, a/k/a Patricia A. Cleary, Case No. 21-60262-CR-Singhal, a 51-year-old from Odessa, Florida is charged by indictment with one count of falsely representing a social security number and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, Cleary knowingly gave a false social security number to a Medicaid Managed Care Organization while applying for a job with the company. The social security number did not belong to Cleary. Instead, it belonged to a victim living in a different state. Cleary did this to hide her real identity from the company, says the indictment.

HHS-OIG Miami, State of Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, SSA-OIG Miami, and FBI Miami investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Canzio is prosecuting it.

In United States v. Julio Cesar Betancourt, Case No. 21-20425-CR-Moore, a 31-year-old resident of Hialeah Gardens, Florida is charged by information with conspiracy to commit money laundering.  According to the information, Betancourt, as owner of owner of JD Solution USA, Inc., conspired to launder $363,139 in health care fraud proceeds between July 2019 and October 2019.  These proceeds were related to a durable medical equipment company located in Miami that was committing health care fraud, says the information.

HHS-OIG Miami and FBI Miami investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Abraham is prosecuting it.

In United States v. Jorge Luis Lopez Pena, Case No. 21-CR-20466-Gayles, a 36-year-old from Miami, Florida is charged by information with conspiracy to commit money laundering.  According to the information, Lopez Pena, as owner of Lopez Distributors, Inc., conspired to launder $185,671 in health care fraud proceeds between August 2019 and December 2019. These health care fraud proceeds were related to a durable medical equipment company located in Miami that was committing health care fraud, says the information.

HHS-OIG Miami and FBI Miami investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Abraham is prosecuting it.

In U.S. v. Angel Pimentel, Case No. 21-20420-CR-King, a 72-year-old from Miami, Florida, is charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and substantive counts of health care fraud.  According to the indictment, Pimentel owned Maggie Pharmacy Discount, Inc. From about March 2015 to August 2019, Pimentel submitted $988,983 in claims to Medicare, which falsely and fraudulently represented that various health care benefits, primarily prescription drugs, were medically necessary, prescribed by a doctor, and had been provided by Maggie Pharmacy Discount, Inc. to Medicare beneficiaries.  As a result of the false claims, Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors, through their pharmacy benefit managers, made payments funded by the Medicare Part D Program to the corporate bank accounts of Maggie Pharmacy Discount, Inc. of at least $988,983, says the indictment.

HHS-OIG Miami and FBI Miami investigated this case. Southern District of Florida Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Clark is prosecuting it.

Prior to the charges announced as part of today’s nationwide enforcement action and since its inception in March 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,600 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for approximately $23 billion. In addition to the criminal actions announced today, CMS, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, announced 28 administrative actions to decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Telemedicine Fraud Cases

More than 43 criminal defendants in 11 judicial districts nationwide are charged in cases involving telemedicine: the use of telecommunications technology to provide health care services remotely. It is alleged that these telemedicine defendants filed over $1.1 billion in fraudulent claims. 

The continued focus on prosecuting health care fraud schemes involving telemedicine reflects the success of the nationwide coordinating role of the Fraud Section’s National Rapid Response Strike Force, the creation of which was announced at the 2020 National Health Care Fraud and Opioid Takedown. The National Rapid Response Strike Force helped coordinate the prosecution of the telemedicine initiative, Sober Homes initiative, and COVID-19 cases that were announced today. The focus on telemedicine fraud also builds on the telemedicine component of last year’s national takedown and the impact of the 2019 “Operation Brace Yourself” Telemedicine and Durable Medical Equipment Takedown, which resulted in an estimated cost avoidance of more than $1.9 billion in the amount paid by Medicare for orthotic braces in the 20 months following that takedown.

Health Care Fraud Prosecutions in the Southern District of Florida for

Fiscal Year 2020-2021

The Southern District of Florida is a national leader in health care fraud prosecutions.  So far, during the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year (from October 1, 2020 through today), a total of 196 defendants have been charged in the Southern District of Florida with health care fraud-related offenses.  It is alleged that approximately $2.2 billion was billed by these defendants and that approximately $488 million was paid.   

A complaint, information or indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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Miami, Florida – A self-described film financier was sentenced today to 156 months’ imprisonment for orchestrating a scheme to steal over $60 million from investors and producers seeking financing for movies and Broadway shows.

Benjamin Forrest McConley, 39, of Miami, previously admitted his role in running a sophisticated movie financing fraud scheme.  McConley pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349 (Case No. 19-CR-20447-Singhal).

McConley held himself out as a film producer and financier.  In that role, McConley offered to provide financing to investors and producers seeking funds to produce motion pictures, theater performances, and other projects.  McConley promised the victims that, in exchange for the victims’ cash contributions, McConley would “match” the contributions and use the combined funds to secure financing from financial institutions in South Florida and elsewhere. 

A bank employee recruited by McConley, Benjamin Rafael, furthered the scheme by deceiving victims about the security of their funds.  During the course of the scheme, Rafael was directed to falsely assure victims that their contributions or loans had been “matched” as promised in the funding agreements.

Victims lost millions of dollars based on these false representations and promises.  The victims’ contributions were never “matched” the victims’ funds, as promised in the funding agreements.  Instead, McConley stole victims’ money by transferring the funds to personal and corporate bank accounts, often within days of the victims’ contributions or loans.  He spent the money on victims’ money on luxury automobiles, personal watercraft, real estate, stocks, jewelry, home furnishings, designer clothes, hotel accommodations, and private and commercial air travel. 

In addition to the sentence of 156 months’ imprisonment, McConley was ordered to pay restitution to the victims, forfeit money and real estate traceable to the fraud scheme, and serve a term of supervised release of three years.  The Court also entered a $69,000,000.00 forfeiture money judgment against McConley.

Co-defendant Rafael previously pled guilty and was sentenced to a combined 42 months’ imprisonment for his involvement in the scheme, as well as another case involving Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans he obtained through fraud.  Co-defendant Jason Van Eman is scheduled for trial on March 14, 2022.  The indictment against Van Eman contains allegations and he is innocent until proven guilty by a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

FBI Miami Field Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Browne and Elizabeth Young.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon is responsible for the asset forfeiture component of the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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Miami, Florida -- Three Florida residents have been charged in federal district court in Miami with crimes related to alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran, as well as money laundering.

Defendants Mohammad Faghihi, 52, his wife Farzeneh Modarresi, 53, and his sister Faezeh Faghihi, 50, operated Florida company Express Gene. According to the criminal complaint affidavit, between October 2016 and November 2020, Express Gene received numerous wire transfers from accounts in Malaysia, the People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, totaling almost $3.5 million.  It is alleged that some of the money received was used by Express Gene and its principals to purchase genetic sequencing equipment from U.S. manufacturers and ship them to Iran without a license from the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to export the machines, despite sanctions on Iran. The incoming money also was used by F. Faghihi and Modarresi to fund the 2019 purchase of the Express Gene property, says the affidavit.

On Feb. 20, 2021, Faghihi arrived at Miami International Airport from Iran, where he was inspected by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. According to the charging documents, during his inspection, Faghihi made false statements, including that he did not practice his profession in Iran or conduct any type of research in Iran. In fact, Faghihi was the director of a laboratory within Shiraz University of Medical Science in Iran bearing his name: “Dr. Faghihi’s Medical Genetic Center,” says the affidavit. In addition, his luggage contained 17 vials of unknown biological substances covered with ice packs and concealed beneath bread and other food items, according to the affidavit. All the vials were subject to regulations. 

From approximately 2013 to approximately 2020, Faghihi was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami (UM), Miller School of Medicine. During this period, he was the principal investigator on several National Institute of Health (NIH) grants awarded in February 2013, December 2016, and June 2017. It is alleged that Express Gene and Faghihi received large deposits from international wires during this period and that Faghihi failed to disclose them UM or NIH, as required.  

Defendants made their initial federal court appearances today. Their pretrial detention hearings will take place tomorrow, September 15, at 10:00 a.m. in federal magistrate court in Miami.

All defendants are charged with conspiring to commit an offense against the United States and conspiring to commit money laundering. Faghihi and Modarresi also were charged with the unlawful exports of goods to Iran, and smuggling goods out of the United States. Faghihi and F. Faghihi were charged with smuggling goods into the United States and making false statements. Faghihi was further charged with wire fraud.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge George Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Vernon Foret, Director, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

FBI Miami and CBP Florida are investigating the case. The University of Miami provided invaluable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thakur and Senior Litigation Counsel Randy Hummel of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Menno Goedman of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 21-mj-03823.

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Three Florida residents have been charged in federal district court in Miami with crimes related to their alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran, and money laundering.

Defendants Mohammad Faghihi, 52, his wife Farzeneh Modarresi, 53, and his sister Faezeh Faghihi, 50, operated Florida company Express Gene. According to the criminal complaint affidavit, between October 2016 and November 2020, Express Gene received numerous wire transfers from accounts in Malaysia, the People’s Republic of China, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, totaling almost $3.5 million. It is alleged that some of the money received was used by Express Gene and its principals to purchase genetic sequencing equipment from U.S. manufacturers and ship them to Iran without a license from the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to export the machines, despite sanctions on Iran. The incoming money also was used by F. Faghihi and Modarresi to fund the 2019 purchase of the Express Gene property, says the affidavit.

On Feb. 20, Faghihi arrived at Miami International Airport from Iran, where he was inspected by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. According to the charging documents, during his inspection by CBP officers, Faghihi made false statements, including that he did not practice his profession in Iran or conduct any type of research in Iran. In fact, according to the affidavit, Faghihi was the director of a laboratory within Shiraz University of Medical Science in Iran bearing his name: “Dr. Faghihi’s Medical Genetic Center,”. In addition, his luggage contained 17 vials of unknown biological substances covered with ice packs and concealed beneath bread and other food items, according to the affidavit. All the vials were subject to regulations. 

From approximately 2013 to approximately 2020, Faghihi was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami (UM), Miller School of Medicine. During this period, he was the principal investigator on several National Institute of Health (NIH) grants awarded in February 2013, December 2016 and June 2017. It is alleged that Express Gene and Faghihi received large deposits from international wires during this period, but they were not disclosed as required to either UM or NIH’s financial conflict of interest reporting system.

Defendants made their initial federal court appearances today. Their pretrial detention hearings will take place tomorrow, Sept. 15, at 10:00 a.m. in federal magistrate court in Miami.

All defendants are charged with conspiring to commit an offense against the United States and conspiring to commit money laundering. Faghihi and Modarresi are also charged with the unlawful exports of goods to Iran, and smuggling goods out of the United States. Faghihi and F. Faghihi were charged with smuggling goods into the United States and making false statements. Faghihi is further charged with wire fraud.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko for the Justice Department’s National Security Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge George Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Director Vernon Foret of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

FBI Miami and CBP Miami are investigating the case. The University of Miami provided invaluable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Thakur and Senior Litigation Counsel Randy Hummel of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Menno Goedman of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Miami, Florida – Thirty-nine-year-old Niviane Petit Phelps, of Miami-Dade County, pled guilty on Friday in federal district court to a six count indictment charging her with making threats to kill Vice President Kamala Harris.  

During the change of plea hearing, Phelps admitted that in February, she sent her husband, who was in prison, 30-second video clips of herself threatening to kill the Vice President.  The videos show Phelps making the threats, screaming curse words, saying that she had accepted $53,000, to carry out the “hit” against Vice President Harris, and explaining that she would carry out the assassination within 50 days.  Some of the video clips she recorded herself; others she had her children record.  After sending these videos, Phelps sent a photograph of herself holding a firearm with a target sheet at a gun range.  Two days later, Phelps applied for a concealed weapon permit.  Phelps also admitted to telling law enforcement officers who handled this case, that if they had not come to her house, she “doesn’t know” what would have happened.

Phelps is scheduled for sentencing on November 19, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. before United States District Judge Jose E. Martinez, where she faces a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, Miami Field Office made the announcement.    

USSS Miami investigated the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Abbie Waxman and Michael Gilfarb.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20087.

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Miami, Florida – The two 35-year-old South Florida men who killed a Miami plumber during an armed robbery and carjacking in 2018 were sentenced yesterday in federal district court in Miami.  U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman sentenced Jamal Lamar Head to 60 years in prison and Keon Travy Glanton to just over 33 years in prison.  

On July 11, 2018, Head and Glanton worked together to rob a Roto-Rooter plumber of valuable plumbing equipment in Riviera Beach, Florida.  Head and Glanton lured the Roto-Rooter plumber to an abandoned residence in Riviera Beach, where Head assaulted him with a firearm.  Valuable plumbing equipment was removed from the vehicle.   

The following day, July 12, 2018, Head and Glanton planned to rob another plumber, this time at a vacant house in Miami Lakes, Florida.  After Head and Glanton called several plumbers, plumber “L.S.H.” agreed to come to the Miami Lakes house to perform plumbing work.  When L.S.H. arrived, Head forced L.S.H. into another vehicle at gunpoint, while Glanton drove away in L.S.H.’s plumbing van. 

Head began driving L.S.H. away from the scene, and L.S.H. struggled with Head.  Head then shot L.S.H. once in the chest and twice in the abdomen and crashed his car into a tree.  Head fled the scene and called Glanton, who returned to the area in L.S.H.’s van to pick up Head.  Head and Glanton then fled the area together.  They later drove to another area of Miami, where they doused L.S.H.’s van in gasoline and lit it on fire.

Paramedics arrived at the murder scene and found L.S.H.’s body in the rear seat of Head’s vehicle.  L.S.H. was pronounced dead on the scene.  The medical examiner determined that L.S.H.’s cause of death was blood loss from the three gunshot wounds.

Earlier this year, Glanton and Head pled guilty to conspiring to commit a Hobbs Act robbery, carjacking resulting in death, and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Robert Cekada, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, and Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez III, Director, Miami Dade Police Department, announced the sentences.  

ATF Miami and MDPD investigated this case.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Marcet and Jessica Kahn Obenauf.  AUSA Richard Brown is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 19-cr-20063.

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Miami, Florida – A federal district judge in West Palm Beach sentenced 42-year-old Clarence G. Kelley, III, a/k/a “Kemp,” of Lake Worth, Florida, to a mandatory term of 5 years in prison for possessing with the intent to distribute more than a kilogram of cocaine.

In March of 2021, law enforcement began investigating Kelley for his involvement in a drug-trafficking operation.   As a result of the investigation, law enforcement executed State of Florida warrants at two Lake Worth residences on April 21, 2021.  At the residence where Kelley and his girlfriend were found, law enforcement discovered items to include 1,470 grams of cocaine in the garage and a Gucci bag in the bedroom containing Kelley’s driver’s license and approximately $18,000.   Kelley admitted that he had purchased the cocaine and sold approximately nine ounces before his arrest.  Law enforcement located items to include kilogram presses, grinders, blenders and residue at the second residence, which was used by Kelley to divide the cocaine for sale.  Kelley was previously convicted and sentenced federally for distributing crack cocaine.

In June 2021, Kelley pled guilty in West Palm Beach federal court to the sole count of the indictment, which charged the defendant with possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.  As part of his plea, Kelley agreed to forfeit $19,324.00 to the United States of America.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, La Verne J. Hibbert, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division, and Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, made the announcement.

DEA’s West Palm Beach District Office and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Sarah J. Schall prosecuted this case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-CR-80075.

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Miami, Florida – A South Florida federal district judge sentenced a 29-year-old North Miami man yesterday to 38 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his role in a sophisticated tax-fraud scheme that victimized hundreds of taxpayers and cost the U.S. Treasury over $450,000.

From 2012 to 2015, Wesly Divers, used the stolen information of hundreds of victims to electronically file fraudulent tax returns in their names.  In several instances, Divers filed fraudulent returns year after year in the names of the same victims. He masked his identity through sophisticated means, including using virtual private networks (VPNs) to hide his internet protocol (IP) address from IRS servers. During the course of the scheme, through thousands of fraudulent tax returns, Divers claimed roughly $1.5 million in tax refunds.  Although the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) was able to detect and stop roughly $1 million of the fraudulent payouts, Divers received $454,121.72.  His co-conspirator, 28-year-old Rony Dorismond, received $58,232 in tax refunds from the U.S. Treasury in the name of these victims. 

The majority of the fraudulent refunds were deposited into bank accounts that Divers admitted were opened in the names of victims of identity theft. Divers admitted to controlling these accounts and withdrawing funds for his own benefit. 

In addition to sentencing Divers to prison and supervised release terms, U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola ordered him to pay $454,121.72 in restitution.  Divers pled guilty on June 28, 2021, to conspiracy, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

Diver’s co-defendant, Rony Dorismond, 28, was sentenced last year to 25 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.  He was ordered to pay $58,232 in restitution.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, and Darrell J. Waldon, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Washington DC Field Office, announced the sentence.

IRS-CI, Washington D.C. Field Office, – in particular, its Cyber Crimes Unit – investigated the case.  IRS-CI’s Cyber Crimes Unit investigates internet-based technologies that enable criminals to engage in illegal activity. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sajjad Matin and Deputy Chief Frederic “Fritz” Shadley are prosecuting the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 19-CR-20503.

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Miami, Florida – Several Highlands County men have been sentenced in South Florida federal district court to prison terms for their roles in a powder and crack cocaine drug trafficking ring that had become entrenched in the Lake Placid neighborhood of Highway Park, Florida. A law enforcement operation handled by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Florida Department of Law Enforcement; and Highlands County Sheriff’s Office dismantled the drug trafficking organization, leading to the prosecution of members at all levels of the criminal enterprise -- from top leaders, to people who cooked crack, to street-level dealers. In the past three months, the following federal defendants have been sentenced in this matter:

Markyrie McCray, Jr., 24, was sentenced on September 8, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, to 30 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base, commonly known as “crack cocaine.”  (Case No. 21-CR-14002).

Takaria Vashon McCray, 47, was sentenced on August 25, 2021, by Judge Middlebrooks, to 188 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.  (Case No. 21-CR-14002).  Takaria Vashon McCray has a prior conviction from the Southern District of Florida for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced as a career offender under the federal sentencing guidelines.

Markyrie McCray, Sr., 46, was sentenced on August 25, 2021, by Judge Middlebrooks, to 72 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base.  (Case No. 21-CR-14002).  Markyrie McCray, Sr. has a prior conviction from the Southern District of Florida for conspiracy to distribute cocaine base.

Coy Lee Bellamy, Jr., 34, was sentenced on August 17, 2021, by Judge Middlebrooks, to 96 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base and conspiracy to distribute a cocaine.  Coy Lee Bellamy, Jr. was sentenced as a career offender under the federal sentencing guidelines.  (Case No. 21-CR-14002).

Terrance Mactavias Sholtz, 43, was sentenced on August 17, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg, to 24 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of distribution of cocaine base.  (Case No. 20-CR-14021). 

Marquis Sharod Bellamy, 28, was sentenced on July 1, 2021, by Judge Middlebrooks, to 180 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.  Marquis Sharod Bellamy was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act.  (Case No. 21-CR-14002).

Mykel Laron Treadwell, 34, was sentenced on June 2, 2021, by Judge Middlebrooks, to 24 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute hydromorphone.  (Case No. 21-CR-14003).

Kenneth Jamal Deveaux, 39, was sentenced on May 26, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez, to 151 months’ imprisonment after being convicted of distribution of cocaine base.  (Case No. 20-CR-14022).  Kenneth Jamal Deveaux has a prior conviction from the Southern District of Florida for possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and was sentenced as a career offender under the federal sentencing guidelines.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, La Verne J. Hibbert, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division, Robert Cekada, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Miami Field Office, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, Troy Walker, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and Paul Blackman, Sheriff, Highlands County Sheriff’s Office made the announcement.  The State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s 10th Judicial Circuit assisted greatly with this operation.

These cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter.

The prosecution was part of Operation Triple Play, which is a result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a partnership between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, and other priority transnational criminal organizations that threaten the citizens of the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence driven, multi-agency approach to combat transnational organized crime.  The OCDETF program facilitates complex, joint operations by focusing its partner agencies on priority targets, by managing and coordinating multi-agency efforts, and by leveraging intelligence across multiple investigative platforms.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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Miami, Florida — Former Florida Department of Corrections officer, Terrance Reynolds, 31, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Donald L. Graham to 33 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Reynolds was convicted following a 14-day trial for conspiring to assault youthful offender inmates at the South Florida Reception Center, a prison located in Doral, Florida.  A second former officer previously pleaded guilty in this case and was sentenced in federal court.  

Evidence presented at trial established that on March 27, 2017, Reynolds and former Sergeant Brendan Butler, 31, conspired to physically assault and intimidate youthful offender inmates for being disruptive and disrespectful earlier that morning.  Reynolds and Butler then instructed three of the inmates to exit their housing unit and took them into a mop closet.  Once inside the mop closet, they assaulted one of the inmates. Reynolds used a broom stick, causing the inmate bodily injury, while the other two inmates stood nearby.  The following day, Reynolds and Butler assaulted one of the other inmates to punish him for being disrespectful.  Inmates may be classified as youthful offenders by a court or the Department of Corrections and are generally twenty-four years old or younger.  Butler previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the inmates’ civil rights.          

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Denise M. Stemen, Deputy Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, announced the sentence.

“The corrections officer sentenced yesterday violated not only the Constitution, but also the public’s trust,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gonzalez. “Seeking justice for victims whose civil rights are violated by those in positions of power has always been, and will continue to be, a top priority of this Office.”

“The actions of former corrections officer Terrance Reynolds are inexcusable and undercut the public’s trust in our institutions and officials,” said FBI-Miami Deputy Special Agent in Charge Stemen. “The FBI’s Miami Area Corruption Task Force was assembled and designed to root out this type of reprehensible conduct.  I commend the professionalism and hard work of the Florida Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General and their close cooperation with FBI for this investigation.”

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Miami Area Corruption Task Force and the Florida Department of Corrections Office of the Inspector General.  It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Senior and Brian Dobbins of the Southern District of Florida and Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.  

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Three Peruvian nationals have been sentenced to serve several years in prison for operating a series of call centers in Peru that defrauded Spanish-speaking U.S. residents by falsely threatening them with arrest, deportation and other legal consequences.

Fernan Huerta Haro, 34, Jerson Isai Renteria, 38, and Evelyng Milla Campuzano, 36, all from Lima, Peru, were sentenced to 90 months, 100 months, and 90 months in prison, respectively. Each pleaded guilty for their roles in conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud through a series of Peruvian call centers that used false statements and threats to obtain money from Spanish-speaking individuals across the United States. The defendants and their employees falsely told victims that they were required to accept and pay for English-language courses and other educational products and that failure to do so placed them in legal jeopardy. The defendants and their co-conspirators falsely threatened to have their victims arrested and deported in order to collect millions of dollars from victims in South Florida and across the United States. Many of the defendants’ victims were elderly.

“The Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch will pursue and prosecute transnational criminals who defraud vulnerable U.S. consumers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department's Civil Division. “The defendants in this case defrauded immigrants by falsely promising free products to improve their English. In reality, the defendants were luring their victims into a trap of intimidation and fear, leaving them far worse off – with substantial financial losses and, often, emotional scars from these crimes. Today’s sentences demonstrate that defendants who prey upon U.S. consumers from abroad will not do so with impunity.”

“This case demonstrates that the long arm of justice has no limits when it comes to reaching fraudsters who prey on our nation’s most vulnerable populations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida. “We will continue to bring American justice to transnational criminals who use fear tactics and intimidation to steal money from immigrants, seniors and others who live in this country.”   

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service constantly strives to protect our communities from predatory criminals seeking to abuse and exploit the most vulnerable members of our society,” said Inspector in Charge Joseph W. Cronin of the USPIS Miami Division. “This particular case is an example of how Postal Inspectors will vigorously pursue these types of crime and ensure that the perpetrators will be brought to justice to pay for the crimes they have committed.” 

In pleading guilty, each of these defendants admitted that they and their employees falsely claimed to be lawyers, court officials, federal agents and representatives of a so-called “minor crimes court,” which does not exist. The callers falsely threatened victims with court proceedings, negative marks on their credit reports, imprisonment and immigration consequences if they did not immediately pay for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees.

Huerta was the co-owner of the Camino al Progreso and Neshuer Corporation call centers in Lima, Peru. From April 2011 until his arrest in July 2019, he and his co-conspirators called victims as well as victims’ family members and friends and fraudulently threatened them with legal consequences if they did not make payments for the purportedly delivered products and settlement fees for English language classes. 

Renteria was the co-owner of the Accion Latino and Bienester Hispano call centers in Lima, Peru. In pleading guilty, he admitted that from June 2013 until July 2019, he and his employees falsely impersonated U.S. government officials and falsely threatened victims with court proceedings, imprisonment and immigration consequences.

Milla was Renteria’s co-owner at the Accion Latino call center. From 2013 until her arrest in 2019, she also threatened and intimidated Spanish-speakers in the United States by overseeing call centers that impersonated U.S. law enforcement and demanded payments from vulnerable victims across the United States.

Huerta, Renteria and Milla were arrested in July 2019 by Peruvian authorities based on a U.S. extradition request, and each has remained incarcerated since that time. The defendants were extradited to the Southern District of Florida in October 2020. A co-defendant Omar Cuzcano was previously sentenced to serve 90 months in prison. Another co-defendant Henrry Milla Campuzano will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. on Sept. 21.  

Two additional defendants in the case – Carlos Alberto Espinoza Huerta and Josmell Arturo Espinoza Huerta – evaded arrest at the time of their five co-defendants’ arrests in Peru. They were subsequently located and extradited to the United States on June 25, and are being detained at the Federal Detention Center in Miami. Their trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 14, 2022, before Judge Scola.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch investigated the case, along with the department’s Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force. Senior Trial Attorney Phil Toomajian and Trial Attorney Max Goldman of the Consumer Protection Branch are prosecuting the case. The Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and the Peruvian National Police provided critical assistance. 

The Consumer Protection Branch coordinates the department’s Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, working with U.S. Attorney’s Offices and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute scams run by transnational criminal organizations, including mass mailing, telemarketing, and tech support scams. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch, visit its website at http://www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Miami, Florida – Federal prosecutors have charged 47-year-old Miami resident Yamira Sanchez with helping foreign national men fraudulently obtain their United States green cards by brokering their marriages to Cuban-born women living in South Florida as United States citizens or legal permanent residents.  These brokered marriages allowed the foreign men to take advantage of accelerated immigration benefits under the Cuban Adjustment Act.

According to the indictment unsealed this week in federal district court in Miami, Sanchez owned Immigration Consultant and Immigration Corp., a South Florida company that offered immigration application and other services to the public.  Some of the services were illegal, says the indictment.  It is alleged that Sanchez and her co-conspirators profited from arranging fraudulent marriages between men from Italy with no legal status in the United States and women who had been born in Cuba, immigrated to the United States, and obtained legal status here as United States citizens or legal permanent residents.  Because the women had been born in Cuba, the Cuban Adjustment Act allowed them to seek expedited immigration benefits for their foreign national husbands: immediate legal permanent residence in the United States, in most cases. 

In exchange for thousands of dollars from men they barely knew, the women – all recruited by Sanchez and her co-conspirators – married the men and filed immigration petitions on their behalf, asking the United States government to grant legal permanent residence status to their newly-minted husbands, says the indictment.  This allowed the men to permanently reside and legally work in the United States.  It was Sanchez, through her company, who prepared, notarized, and filed the marriage and immigration paperwork necessary to secure immigration benefits for the Italian men, according to the indictment. 

The indictment charges Sanchez with one count of conspiring to commit marriage fraud and five counts of unlawfully encouraging an alien to reside in the United States.  If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

The indictment also charges husband-beneficiaries Gennaro di Tommaso (32), Massimillano di Napoli (47), Fernando Sivo (25), Alessio Sarno (31), and Vincenzo Lopopolo (34), with conspiracy and marriage fraud, for which they face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  It charges wife-petitioners Yaneisi Osorio Rodriguez (35), Emily Perez (30), Jaileen Dominguez (23), Elizabeth Penalver (29), and Loi Torriente (29), with conspiracy, marriage fraud, and one count each of unlawfully encouraging an alien to reside in the United States.  If convicted, they face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Defendants made their initial appearances this week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres.  They are free on bond, pending trial.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, announced the charges.

HSI Miami investigated this matter with assistance from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig is prosecuting the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda is handling asset forfeiture.

An indictment contains mere allegations and defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 21-cr-20434.

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Miami, Florida – Yesterday, Broward County residents Jimpcy One, 35, Gousman Lemy, 42, and Frantz Guillaume, Jr. a/k/a Sandro Saintfloeur, 44, pled guilty in federal district court to conspiring with each other to launder proceeds obtained from business email compromise schemes and fraudulently obtained Covid-19 relief loans.  Each defendant admitted to laundering close to $2 million dollars to disguise the nature and source of the illicit funds.

A business email compromise scheme is a type of computer intrusion that occurs when an employee of a company is fooled into interacting with an email message that appears to be, but is not, legitimate.  The bogus email usually contains either an attachment or a link to a malicious website or program.  When an unwitting user clicks on either the link or the attachment, it releases some form of malware (i.e., a virus, spyware, or other program application) that subsequently infects the employee’s email and/or computer.  The malware may affect an employee’s individual account or spread throughout the computer network.  The malware, once executed, can harvest information including but not limited to credentials and passwords, thereby giving the intruder access to sensitive company information.

According to court documents, in July of 2017, Lemy and Guillaume laundered a little over $425,000 obtained from a business email compromise of a Texas based university.  Then, in 2019, One joined Lemy, and Guillaume in laundering over $900,000 obtained from a business email compromise of another U.S. based victim company. In each business email compromise scheme, co-conspirators sent false and fraudulent emails from a hacked account which tricked the victims into wiring money into accounts controlled by the defendants and their co-conspirators.  One, Gousman, and Lemy then sought to conceal the origin of this fraudulently obtained money by transferring it among the bank accounts of various shell companies that One, Gousman, and Lemy controlled.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States in 2020, One, Gousman, and Lemy allegedly initiated a new fraud scheme using existing shell companies from the email compromise scheme, as well as newly created and reactivated shell companies. Defendants allegedly submitted false and fraudulent loan applications under two U.S. government relief programs authorized by the CARES Act to help small businesses and their employees survive the Covid-19 economic crisis: the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (“EIDL”).  In June and July 2020, through false submissions in the names of their shell companies, One, Gousman, and Lemy fraudulently applied for and received close to $2 million in PPP and EIDL funds, which was laundered amongst the co-conspirators.

U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz, who sits in Ft. Lauderdale, will sentence these defendants on November 18, 2021, at 9:30 a.m.  Each defendant faces up to 20 years in federal prison. 

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami; Kyle A. Myles, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), Atlanta Region; and Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Business Administration, Investigations Division (SBA-OIG), Eastern Regional Office made the announcement.

FBI Miami, FDIC-OIG, and SBA-OIG handled the investigation, with assistance from the United States Secret Service Miami Field Office and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Cybercrimes Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke Watson is prosecuting the case. 

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 21-cr-60126.

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Miami, Florida – Fifty-eight-year-old Willie Curry, of Miami-Dade County, pled guilty yesterday in Miami federal court to a felony Information charging him with wire fraud in connection with his fraudulent application to the U.S. Small Business Administration for a low-interest COVID-19 relief loan.

According to the facts admitted at the change of plea, Curry, during 2019 and 2020, was employed on a full-time basis by Miami-Dade County as a Network Manager.  As a County employee, Curry suffered no loss of salary due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Despite this, on June 24, 2020, Curry submitted to the SBA an EIDL application stating that he was the 100% owner of a sole proprietorship operating under the name “Will Curry Computers.”  In that application, Curry falsely and fraudulently certified that Will Curry Computers was established on January 1, 2015, and that during the 12-month period prior to January 31, 2020, Will Curry Computers had gross revenues of approximately $755,416, a cost of goods sold of approximately $170,664, and 10 employees.  In reality, Curry established Will Curry Computers in 2020, it had only minimal gross revenues and cost of goods sold during the twelve-month period prior to January 31, 2020, and it had no employees. 

Based on the defendant’s materially false and fraudulent EIDL application, the SBA disbursed a $10,000 advance and then $150,000 in loan proceeds to Curry’s listed financial institution for Curry’s benefit.  The financial institution instead returned the money to the SBA, and after Curry was notified of this, he made numerous contacts to the SBA in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to have the money sent to an account he maintained at another financial institution.  Ultimately his fraudulent efforts were uncovered by law enforcement.

Curry is scheduled for sentencing on November 17, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. before Senior United States District Judge James Lawrence King, where he faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, and Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, Special Agent in Charge, Small Business Administration, Investigations Division’s Eastern Region (SBA-OIG) announced the guilty plea.

FBI Miami’s Area Corruption Task Force, which includes task force officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Professional Compliance Bureau, Criminal Conspiracy Section, and SBA-OIG investigated this matter. Miami-Dade County Office of Inspector General and United States Secret Service provided invaluable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward N. Stamm is prosecuting this case.

In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was enacted. It was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other sources of relief, the CARES Act authorized and provided funding to the SBA to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loans (“EIDLs”) to eligible small businesses, including sole proprietorships and independent contractors, experiencing substantial financial disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic to allow them to meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could otherwise have been met had the disaster not occurred.  EIDL applications were submitted directly to the SBA via the SBA’s on-line application website, and the applications were processed and the loans funded for qualifying applicants directly by the SBA.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20415.

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Miami, Florida – Two south Florida securities lawyers and the former Chief Operating Officer of 1 Global Capital LLC (“1 Global”) were sentenced for their roles in a sprawling fraud scheme that affected more than 3,600 investors in 42 states.

Andrew Dale Ledbetter, 79, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pled guilty to a single count information, charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 (Case No. 20-CR-60103), and was sentenced today to 60 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman.  Ledbetter was also ordered to pay over $148,976,248 million in restitution to the victims of the scheme.

Steven Allen Schwartz, 76, of Delray Beach, Florida, pled guilty to a single count information, charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 (Case No. 20-CR-60003), and on July 9, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Roy K. Altman sentenced Schwartz to a term of imprisonment of 24 months.  Schwartz was also ordered to pay over $36 million in restitution to the victims of the scheme.

Jan Douglas Atlas, 76, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, pled guilty to a single count information, charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371 (Case No. 19-CR-60258), and on August 20, 2021, U.S. District Court Judge Roy K. Altman sentenced Atlas to a term of imprisonment of 8 months.  Atlas was also ordered to pay over $29 million in restitution to the victims of the scheme.

According to court documents, 1 Global was a commercial lending business based in Hallandale Beach, Florida, that made the equivalent of “pay day” loans to small businesses at high interest rates, termed merchant cash advance loans (“MCAs”).  Schwartz was a director and consultant at 1 Global, and also held out as a Chief Operating Officer in the company’s marketing materials.  Ledbetter was an attorney licensed in the State of Florida who had an of counsel position at Law Firm #1 and acted in a fundraising capacity at 1 Global beginning in or around 2015.  Atlas was a partner at Law Firm #1 and acted as outside counsel for 1 Global.

Substantial questions arose during the operation of the business as to whether 1 Global was offering or selling a security and whether the investment offering was required to be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  These questions were raised by investors, investment advisors, and regulators.  Ledbetter and Atlas knew that if 1 Global’s investment offering were determined to be a security, it would undermine the ability of 1 Global to raise funds from retail investors and to continue to operate without substantial additional expenses and reporting requirements.  Such a classification would undermine the profits and fees that Ledbetter and other principals at 1 Global would be able to obtain from 1 Global’s operations.      

At the request of 1 Global’s principals, Atlas authored two opinion letters in 2016 containing false information that Atlas allegedly knew would be used by 1 Global to operate the business unlawfully.  The opinion letters falsely described the duration of the investment, among other things, omitting the automatic renewal aspect and that the investment was being targeted toward retail, non-sophisticated investors (such as IRA account holders).   Ledbetter used and relied on Atlas’s opinion letters to continue to raise money illegally, in numerous pitches and communications to investment advisors and investors.

According to court documents, Ledbetter was personally involved in raising more than $100 million in investor funds that went to 1 Global, through his own pitches as well as through investment advisors he attracted to 1 Global.  Over the years, Ledbetter received approximately $3 million from 1 Global, the majority of which was for commissions.  Atlas received approximately $627,000 from Ledbetter’s commissions.  Neither attorney disclosed these commissions to Law Firm #1.  Ledbetter routinely held himself out to investors and investment advisers as outside counsel to 1 Global, and also personally vouched for 1 Global in pitches and marketing materials, without disclosing his extravagant commissions.

In addition, in order to attract investments, Individual #1 (the de facto owner of 1 Global), Schwartz, Ledbetter, and others, made false and misleading representations to investors and potential investors as to the profitability of 1 Global’s business in marketing materials and periodic account statements. 

Alan G. Heide, the former 1 Global Chief Financial Officer, was previously charged via information and sentenced to 60 months (Case No. 19-CR-60231).  Information about the related cases can be found here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/1Global-Capital.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney, Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Miami Field Office, Matthew D. Line, Special Acting Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), and Kyle A. Myles, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) Office of Inspector General, made the announcement. 

FBI Miami, IRS-CI, Miami Field Office, and FDIC-OIG investigated the case. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Young.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture related to the matter.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 20-cr-60103.

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Miami, Florida – Seth A. Bernstein, the owner of jet charter company All in Jets LLC dba JetReady, located in Florida, has agreed to pay $287,055 to settle allegations that he misappropriated Payment Protection Program (PPP) loan proceeds for his personal expenses.  JetReady is a jet charter operator with its principal place of business in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The United States alleged that Bernstein, on behalf of JetReady, applied for and received a PPP loan totaling $1,173,382 in April 2020.  Within a day of receiving the loan proceeds, Bernstein allegedly diverted $98,929 of the funds to pay for personal, non-company related expenses.  JetReady has since filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York.

“The Paycheck Protection Program was enacted over a year ago to help small businesses and their employees financially survive the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida. “Since this and other programs under the CARES Act were initiated, our Office has prioritized investigating and bringing to justice those who illegally seek to benefit from the global health crisis and the programs put in place to help those in need.”

“Paycheck Protection Program loans were intended to provide critical relief to small businesses so that they could retain employees and keep their doors open,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will ensure that those who misused these taxpayer-funded loans and denied other eligible businesses access to such assistance are held accountable.”

“The Paycheck Protection Program is intended to provide a lifeline to the nation’s small businesses and its employees” said Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware of the SBA Office of Inspector General (OIG). “OIG will aggressively investigate allegations of wrongdoing in SBA’s pandemic response programs.  I want to thank the Department of Justice for its dedication to achieving this settlement.”

“The result in this case is the product of enhanced efforts by federal agencies, such as the Small Business Administration working with Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies, to detect Paycheck Protection Program abuses, pursue individuals and companies that engage in such abuses and protect the integrity of the PPP program,” said SBA General Counsel Peggy Delinois Hamilton.

Congress enacted the PPP on March 29, 2020, as part of the CARES Act, to provide emergency financial support to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The CARES Act authorized billions in loans to small businesses struggling to pay employees and other business expenses.  Under the PPP, eligible businesses could obtain loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA).  Businesses were required to spend loan proceeds for employee compensation, rent or mortgage, and other specified expenses and, depending on their use of the loan proceeds, could qualify for loan forgiveness, up to the full amount of the loan.

Today’s civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Victoria Hablitzel, a former JetReady employee.  Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Ms. Hablitzel will receive $57,411.  The case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Hablitzel v. All in Jets, LLC and Seth A. Bernstein, No. 20-cv-61410 (S.D. Fla.).

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, with assistance from the SBA’s Office of General Counsel and OIG.

This matter was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney James A. Weinkle of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Jonathan Gold of the Civil Division.

On May 17, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

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Seth A. Bernstein, the owner of jet charter company All in Jets LLC dba JetReady, located in Florida, has agreed to pay $287,055 to settle allegations that he misappropriated PaycheckProtection Program (PPP) loan proceeds for his personal expenses. JetReady is a jet charter operator with its principal place of business in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The United States alleged that Bernstein, on behalf of JetReady, applied for and received a PPP loan totaling $1,173,382 in April 2020. Within a day of receiving the loan proceeds, Bernstein allegedly diverted $98,929 of the funds to pay for personal, non-company related expenses. JetReady has since filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York.

“Paycheck Protection Program loans were intended to provide critical relief to small businesses so that they could retain employees and keep their doors open,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will ensure that those who misused these taxpayer-funded loans and denied other eligible businesses access to such assistance are held accountable.”

“The Paycheck Protection Program was enacted over a year ago to help small businesses and their employees financially survive the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida. “Since this and other programs under the CARES Act were initiated, our Office has prioritized investigating and bringing to justice those who illegally seek to benefit from the global health crisis and the programs put in place to help those in need.”

“The Paycheck Protection Program is intended to provide a lifeline to the nation’s small businesses and its employees” said Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware of the SBA Office of Inspector General (OIG). “OIG will aggressively investigate allegations of wrongdoing in SBA’s pandemic response programs. I want to thank the Department of Justice for its dedication to achieving this settlement.”

“The result in this case is the product of enhanced efforts by federal agencies, such as the Small Business Administration working with Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies, to detect Paycheck Protection Program abuses, pursue individuals and companies that engage in such abuses and protect the integrity of the PPP program,” said SBA General Counsel Peggy Delinois Hamilton.

Congress enacted the PPP on March 29, 2020, as part of the CARES Act, to provide emergency financial support to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act authorized billions in loans to small businesses struggling to pay employees and other business expenses. Under the PPP, eligible businesses could obtain loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). Businesses were required to spend loan proceeds for employee compensation, rent or mortgage, and other specified expenses and, depending on their use of the loan proceeds, could qualify for loan forgiveness, up to the full amount of the loan.

Today’s civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Victoria Hablitzel, a former JetReady employee. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. Ms. Hablitzel will receive $57,411. The case is captioned U.S. ex rel. Hablitzel v. All in Jets, LLC and Seth A. Bernstein, No. 20-cv-61410 (S.D. Fla.).

The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with assistance from the SBA’s Office of General Counsel and OIG.

This matter was handled by Trial Attorney Jonathan Gold of the Civil Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney James A. Weinkle of the Southern District of Florida.

On May 17, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

Miami, Florida – A 56-year-old man living in Minnesota pled guilty today in federal district court in West Palm Beach to attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Richard Martin Lehner admitted that, over the course of three months, he communicated with an individual he thought was a 15-year-old girl on an online dating application. Lehner repeatedly communicated with her through text and voice message, sending sexually explicit messages in order to convince her to engage in sexual activities with him. He then booked a flight from Minnesota to Florida and booked a hotel room in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where he believed the girl lived. When Lehner arrived in Florida, he purchased condoms and drove to a restaurant where he planned to meet the girl, to then take her to his hotel room for sex. Law enforcement officers arrested Lehner when he arrived at the restaurant.   

Lehner pled guilty to one count of attempted enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity.  Sentencing for Lehner is set for November 3, at 10:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks.  Lehner faces a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison up to a maximum of life in prison.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, announced the guilty plea.

HSI Miami, West Palm Beach Office, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Shannon O’Shea Darsch is prosecuting this case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 21-cr-80094.

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Miami, Florida – Following a three-day trial, a South Florida federal jury this week found 27-year-old Hialeah resident Dianelis Molina Noda guilty of using stolen identities and several of her own bank accounts to steal payroll funds from the family-owned landscaping business for which she had worked for about four years.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Molina Noda handled the payroll of Greentree, Inc., a local landscaping company, and used her access to its records to commit fraud. Using the identities of 20 former employees of the small business, Molina Noda logged work hours in their names and sent the information to a payroll company, which triggered the payroll company to issue paychecks or make direct deposits to accounts. Molina Noda set up three bank accounts and used them to receive the direct deposits.  Between August 2018 and March 2019, Molina Noda stole over $152,000 from this family-owned landscaping company, in addition to collecting her salary. She spent the money on cosmetic surgery, jewelry, furniture, an Orlando timeshare, and a Disney ticket package, among other things.

The jury found Molina Noda guilty of five counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. She faces a maximum sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment for the wire fraud, plus two years of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is set for October 29, at 10:00 a.m. before U.S. Chief District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, announced the jury’s verdict.

FBI Miami investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Hapner and Abbie Waxman.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 21-cr-20087.

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Miami, Florida – A Lake Worth, Florida man who did not report his liquor store’s cash sales to the IRS pled guilty yesterday in federal district court in West Palm Beach to tax evasion.   

Ajay Kumar, 60, was the sole officer and registered agent of Kruthi, Inc, a company registered in Florida, and doing business as “Tri County Discount Liquor.”  Kumar attempted to evade taxes by keeping records of the liquor store’s income in two separate retail point-of-sale systems.  Kumar reported the income from one of these systems to his accountant.  Kumar recorded the cash sales on a separate stand-alone cash register and did not report this income.  As a result, Kruthi’s return for tax year 2017 underreported the liquor store’s gross receipts by approximately $557,268.

During the hearing in West Palm Beach before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks, Kumar admitted that he failed to report all his liquor store’s gross receipts and that he owed substantial income tax in addition to the amount declared on the 2017 tax return that he jointly filed with his wife. 

Judge Middlebrooks will sentence Kumar on November 4, at 11:00 a.m.  Kumar faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, announced the guilty plea. 

Assistant U. S. Attorney Marc Osborne is prosecuting this case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 21-cr-80091.

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Miami, Florida – A 29-year-old Mexican national living in South Florida who pretended to be a nine-year-old girl during on-line chats and solicited minors to produce child sexual abuse material pled guilty today in federal district court in West Palm Beach to committing child exploitation crimes and being in the United States illegally following deportation.

Andres Rivera Reyes, who has lived both in Boca Raton and Pompano Beach, Florida, admitted that over the past two years, he posed as a nine-year-old girl on social media to try to obtain child sexual abuse material from girls in the United States as young as eight. Rivera Reyes used social media networking platforms to share and receive child sexual abuse material and kept videos on his cellular phone of children under 12 engaged in sexually explicit acts. Rivera Reyes also admitted that he is in the United States illegally and that the United States had previously deported him twice.  

Rivera Reyes pled guilty to one count of attempted production of child pornography, two counts of receipt of child pornography, one count of distribution of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg, who sits in West Palm Beach, will sentence Rivera Reyes on October 20, at 11:00 a.m. Rivera Reyes faces up to 112 years’ imprisonment.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI ), Miami Field Office, announced the guilty plea.

FBI Miami investigated the case. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, assisted. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller is prosecuting this case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 21-cr-80064.

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Miami, Florida – A federal district judge in Fort Lauderdale yesterday sentenced the last of 16 defendants for their roles in a large-scale kickback and bribery scheme involving employees and vendors of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers located in West Palm Beach and Miami. 

Earron Starks, 51, was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,451,000 in restitution.  His wife, Carlicha Starks, 42, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, including one year of home confinement, and ordered to pay $501,000 in restitution.

Earron and Carlicha Starks, both from Hallandale Beach, Florida, were vendors who sold supplies to the VA.  They, as did other vendors, paid kickbacks to VA employees in exchange for getting the VA’s business.  Court filings describe how in exchange for cash bribes, medical center employees used government credit cards to order medical and other hospital supplies from these corrupt vendors.  In some cases, the prices of the supplies were grossly inflated.  In other cases, the orders were only partially fulfilled or not fulfilled at all.  Ultimately, the fraud scheme enabled the Starks couple and other corrupt vendors to receive over $20 million in purchase orders with VA Medical Centers in West Palm Beach and Miami.

“There is no place for kickbacks in our veterans’ healthcare system,” said Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.  “These crimes not only violate the public’s trust, they also compromise the integrity of programs intended to help those who have made great sacrifices for our country.  The United States Attorney’s Office will hold accountable anyone who tarnishes the VA through fraud, bribes, or other crimes.”

“These crimes were a gross violation of public trust and a threat to the resources used to care for our nation’s veterans and their families. The act of soliciting and accepting bribes undermines the vital work that honest VA employees do every day,” said David Spilker, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Criminal Investigations Division (VA-OIG, CI), Southeast Field Office.  “The VA OIG is grateful for the United States Attorney’s Office’s partnership in holding these defendants accountable.”

Fourteen additional defendants were charged for their roles in this scheme.  They pleaded guilty and received the following sentences:  

Defendants who worked at West Palm Beach VA Medical Center (Case Number 19-80223-CR-KAM).

• Clinton Purvis, 54, of West Palm Beach, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, was sentenced to 27 months’ incarceration followed by 24 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution.
• Christopher Young, 46, of West Palm Beach, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, was sentenced to 24 months’ probation.
• Kenneth Scott, 61, of Riviera Beach, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, was sentenced to 24 months’ probation and ordered to pay $295,511 in restitution.
• Robert “Bob” Johnson, 64, of West Palm Beach, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment followed by 24 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $800,000 in restitution.

Defendants who worked at Miami VA Medical Center.

• Waymon Melvon Woods, 60, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe as a public official and was sentenced to nine months’ incarceration, 36 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $120,505 in restitution (case number 19-20743-CR-FAM).
• Don Anderson, 61, of Port St. Lucie, Fl., pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe as a public official and was sentenced to 10 days of incarceration, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $31,579 in restitution (case number 19-20746-CR-FAM).
• Jose Eugenio Cuervo, 55, of Miramar, Fl., pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe as a public official and was sentenced to six months of home confinement, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $8,596 in restitution (case number 19-20748-CR-DPG).
• Donnie Shatek Hawes, 37, of Cutler Bay, Fl., who pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe as a public official, was sentenced to 5 days of incarceration, 24 months of probation, and ordered to pay $2,900 in restitution (case number 19-20745-CR-RNS).
• Robert Lee James Harris, 46, of Miami Gardens, Fl., who pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe as a public official, was sentenced to 6 months of home confinement, 36 months of probation and ordered to pay $7,775 (case number 19-20747-CR-RNS).
• Emir Gilberto Reyes,55, of Homestead, Fl., who pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe as a public official, was sentenced to 60 months of probation and ordered to pay $18,380 (case number 20-20098-CR-FAM).
• Eugene Campbell, 62, of Miami Gardens, Fl., who pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe as a public official, was sentenced to 36 months’ incarceration, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $592,717 in restitution (case number 19-20744-CR-UU).

Defendants who were VA supply vendors. 

• Jorge Flores, 47, of Delray Beach, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud was sentenced to 18 months’ incarceration, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2.1 million in restitution (case number 19-80200-CR-RS).
• Robert Kozak, 75, of Boca Raton FL, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and was sentenced to 6 months’ incarceration, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay $850,000 in restitution (case number 19-80201-CR-RS).
• Vincent Bellafiore, 47, of Palm Beach Gardens, FL, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine (case number 20-80077-CR-RS).

All VA employees were either terminated or resigned.  

The convictions were the result of a lengthy investigation by Special Agents of VA-OIG CI, who uncovered the extensive scheme after receiving an anonymous tip.  A related case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania resulted in another VA employee being charged with bribery.  VA OIG, Criminal Investigations Division, is responsible for conducting independent investigations of VA’s expansive programs and operations, which includes the largest healthcare system in the country. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Perwin is prosecuting the case. 

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 19-80202-CR-WP.

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Miami, Florida – Federal prosecutors have charged 28-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Florida resident Damara Holness with lying on a coronavirus relief loan application and fraudulently obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars intended to help small businesses financially survive the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the information filed yesterday in federal district court in Fort Lauderdale, in June 2020, Holness applied for a $300,000 forgivable, federally-guaranteed Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan on behalf of Holness Consulting, Inc., a Florida company that she owned.  It is alleged that to justify the requested loan amount, Holness claimed in the on-line loan application, and through supporting fraudulent payroll tax forms, that her company employed 18 people and spent an average of $120,000 each month on payroll.  In fact, Holness Consulting had zero employees and no payroll expenses.  A bank in Georgia approved Holness Consulting’s PPP loan application based on the lies and wired $300,000 to the company’s bank account in Florida, says the information.  

Once the money hit the bank account in July 2020, Holness spent the next few months creating a paper trail to make it appear as if Holness Consulting had employees and was spending the PPP money on legitimate, approved expenses, it is alleged.  According to the information, Holness issued checks from the company bank account made out to others who agreed, for a fee, to help with the fraud.  At Holness’ direction, the people receiving the checks would endorse and return them to Holness.  Then, Holness would cash the checks at the company’s bank, give a few hundred dollars to the check endorsers, and keep the rest of the cash for herself – about $1,000 per check, says the information.  

Damara Holness is a former president of the Broward County Democratic Black Caucus.

The information charges Holness with conspiring to commit wire fraud.  If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  Holness made her initial appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick M. Hunt, who sits in Ft. Lauderdale.  Holness was released from custody on a $100,000 personal surety bond.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, announced the charges.

FBI Miami investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Kaplan is prosecuting it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Stone is handling asset forfeiture. 

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans who suffered financially from the COVID-19 pandemic.  One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

An information is merely an allegation and a defendant are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

You may find related court documents and information on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-60229.  

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Miami, Florida – A Fort Lauderdale man who blackmailed girls as young as 13 into having sex with him and other minor girls into sending him pornographic videos and images of themselves pled guilty today in federal district court in Ft. Lauderdale to child exploitation crimes.   

Defendant Breshawn Hamilton, 21, admitted that from October 2019 through November 2020, he used Instagram and other social networking platforms to meet and communicate with at least seven girls between the ages of 11 and 15.  During these conversations, Hamilton misrepresented his age, often pretending to be younger than he actually was in order to gain the minors’ trust.  He would then convince the minors to send him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves.  After obtaining the images and videos, Hamilton threatened to disseminate them unless the minors agreed to meet him for sexual intercourse or continue to provide him with additional videos and images.  Even when the minors complied, Hamilton still disseminated the videos and images in question.  Law enforcement confirmed that Hamilton met with some of the minor victims who resided in the Fort Lauderdale area in person and raped them, often in their own homes.  At times, Hamilton recorded himself having sex with the minors.        

Hamilton pled guilty to two counts of enticing a minor, four counts of production of child pornography, three counts of sending interstate extortionate threats, and one count of possession of child pornography.  Hamilton is scheduled for sentencing at 9:00 a.m. on October 27, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith, who sits in Fort Lauderdale. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment.   

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, announced the guilty plea.  

HSI Miami’s Ft. Lauderdale office investigated the case with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Broward Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit, and the South Florida Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. 

Assistant United States Attorney Ajay Alexander is prosecuting the case. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

You may find related court documents and information on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-60010.

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Miami, Florida – On Friday, a federal district judge in West Palm Beach sentenced a Boca Raton resident who was on the lam for 15 years to 48 months in prison for duping victims into sending him money to open offshore or Las Vegas casino gambling accounts, which he never did.  The judge also ordered the defendant to pay over $600,000 in restitution to his victims.

From 1999 through July 2004, Randy Craig Levine, 54, operated three internet web sites, www.baseballpicks.net, www.nflfootballpicks.tv and www.nbabasket-ballpicks.net, out of his home in Highland Beach, Florida.  Levine registered the web sites’ domains and paid for their web hosting using a shell corporation, Pacific Oriental. Through these web sites, Levine purported to provide sports betting tips to individuals who registered with these websites or who called a telephone number listed on the website.  Levine told the individuals that if they sent funds to him, he would use the money to open an offshore or Las Vegas casino gambling account.  Levine used aliases and fake accents while talking to victims on the telephone. He also played a casino floor recording to make it sound as if he were calling from a casino. Although Levine received money from his victims, Levine never opened the promised gambling accounts. Instead, he used the victims’ monies for personal gain.  In this manner, Levine defrauded more than 25 victims. 

During the course of the investigation, and after his passport had been seized by law enforcement, Levine applied for and received a replacement passport, which he used to flee the United States in 2005.  In 2008, Levine, while using an alias, was arrested in Poland.  While on release pending extradition, Levine fled Polish authorities and was not located again until May 2020, in Austria, when Austrian authorities identified him using facial recognition while Levine attempted to open a bank account using another alias.  Almost 15 years after he fled the United States, Levine was arrested in June 2020 in Austria and surrendered to the United States in October 2020. 

On May 17, 2021, Levine pled guilty in federal district court in West Palm Beach, Florida to a federal wire fraud and perjury charges. 

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced sentence.

FBI West Palm Beach investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robin Waugh and Stephanie Evans prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case numbers 05-cr-80089 and 07-cr-80128.

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Miami, Florida – Today, a federal magistrate judge denied bond for 39-year-old Fort Lauderdale resident Denorio Humes.  Humes will remain behind bars as he awaits trial on charges of using force and fear to rob tobacco products from truck drivers during deliveries. 

According to allegations in the indictment and earlier-filed criminal complaint affidavit, Humes was part of a crew operating from April 2020 to March 2021 that robbed cigarettes and other tobacco products from trucks whose drivers had stopped at gas stations and other stores in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Collier counties to deliver the products.  The robbery crew is alleged to have assaulted some of the truck drivers and threatened others. 

The indictment charges Humes with one count of conspiring to commit a Hobbs Act robbery and one count of committing a Hobbs Act robbery.  Humes faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted. 

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge for FBI Miami, made the announcement. 

FBI Miami investigated the case with assistance from the Miami-Dade County Police Department, Collier County Sheriff's Office, Broward County Sheriff's Office, and City of Doral Police Department.  The Broward County State Attorney’s Office also assisted.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Yara Dodin and Ignacio J. Vázquez, Jr., are prosecuting the case. 

This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to partner with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime. 

This case also is part of the Miami-Dade Chiefs of Police Operation Summer Heat Initiative. Anyone with information related to possible violent crimes in Miami-Dade County is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. 

A criminal indictment is a charging instrument containing allegations.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 21-cr-20430.

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Miami, Florida – Today, Brian Bravo, 46, of Pembroke Pines, Florida a former procurement director at Broward Health, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $427,000.  On June 1, 2021, Bravo pled guilty in federal district court in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to a federal conspiracy charge, admitting that he accepted kickbacks from vendors and a consultant in exchange for awarding them lucrative government contracts.

From 2005 through 2015, Brian Bravo worked as the Corporate Procurement Officer and Director of Materials Management of North Broward Hospital District, known in the community as Broward Health.  As Procurement Director, one of Bravo’s responsibilities was to decide which vendors would provide goods and services to Broward Health, including health care products, linens, compression sleeves, and printer repairs.  During his change of plea hearing, Bravo admitted to accepting approximately $427,000 in kickback payments ($150,000 of it in cash) from two vendors and a consultant for two additional vendors in exchange for awarding them Broward Health goods and services contracts.  In 2015, Bravo steered kickback payments to designated bank accounts in order to conceal the illegal activity.     

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, announced sentence.

FBI Miami investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey N. Kaplan is prosecuting it.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 20-cr-60125.

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Miami, Florida – Fifty-year old Palm Beach County resident James Cleary pled guilty on Friday, August 6 to participating in a fraud scheme that bilked investors out of more than $393,500.   

During Friday’s hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in West Palm Beach, Cleary admitted his role in the scheme, which ran from 2015 to 2019.  This included making baseless promises to would-be investors about the profitability of NIT Enterprises, a Palm Beach company that falsely marketed itself as being on the cusp of developing and producing radiation protective materials using an innovative technology.  Cleary, who was not a licensed securities sales agent, also admitted to lying to investors by telling them that NIT was on the verge of making an initial public offering of stock.  This created a false expectation that investors would double or triple their investments in a short amount of time. In fact, there was no IPO on the horizon for NIT.  Cleary admitted that he reached most of his victims through cold calls and that he personally profited from the investor funds.  

Cleary pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who sits in Fort Pierce, Florida, will sentence Cleary on a date to be announced.  Cleary faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. 

As to the other defendants named in the information, the charges are mere allegations.  Those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a parallel civil enforcement action against Cleary and others related to this activity.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, and Russell C. Weigel, III, Commissioner, Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR), announced the guilty plea.  

FBI Miami and OFR investigated this matter.  SEC Miami Regional Office assisted.   Assistant U. S. Attorney Lothrop Morris is prosecuting this case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 20-cr-80095.

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Miami, Florida – Today, a federal district judge in West Palm Beach sentenced a Georgia woman to 145 months in prison for leading a scam that tricked over 250 elderly South Floridians into turning over their credit cards, debit cards, and related personal identification numbers.  The defendant and her co-conspirators used the cards and PINs to steal over $1.4 million.

Over approximately four years starting in 2016, Edtronda Simon, 41, of Fayette County, ran an elder fraud scheme that generally operated as follows: Simon would cold-call elderly victims in South Florida, pretend to be from the fraud department of each senior’s bank, and convince the seniors that their accounts had been compromised, which was not true.  Once a senior seemed convinced, Simon would offer to send a “bank representative” to the elderly victim’s home to exchange any compromised credit or debit card with a new one. Usually with Simon still on the call trying to persuade the senior to verify a PIN number, a co-conspirator would arrive at the victim’s home, take the victim’s credit or debit card, and promise to return with a new one (which, of course, never happened).  The co-conspirators used the seniors’ credit cards, debit cards, and PINs to withdraw cash from ATMs, purchase money orders, and otherwise drain money from the accounts as quickly as possible – before real bank fraud representatives caught on to the illegal activity.

Simon and her co-conspirators convinced over 250 seniors from Broward, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Indian River and other South Florida counties into turning over debit cards, credit cards, and related information.  They defrauded banks of over $1 million.

On May 25, Simon pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft (case no. 20-cr-80081).  In a separate case (20-cr-80037), Simon’s co-conspirators also pled guilty to their roles in the scheme and received the following prison sentences:  The co-defendants received the following prison sentences:

• Samuel Charles -- 40 months
• Shaumbrica Stubbs -- 76 months
• Shaquille Robinson – 63 months
• Luclesse Vernesse -- 48 months
• Ian Felder -- 52 months
• Dierdre Dixon -- 83 months

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, and Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), made the announcement.

USSS Miami and PBSO handled the investigation, along with federal task force officers from the Coral Springs Police Department, Pembroke Pines Police Department, and Plantation Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Rhee Osborne is prosecuting the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Croke handled asset forfeiture matters.

Combatting elder abuse and financial fraud targeted at seniors is a key priority of the Department of Justice.  The mission of the Department’s Elder Justice Initiative is to support and coordinate the Department’s enforcement and programmatic efforts to combat elder abuse, neglect and financial fraud and scams that target our nation’s seniors.  To learn more visit https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice.  The public is encouraged to report victimization and suspected fraud schemes by calling the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD 11 (1-833- 372-8311).

Related court documents and information appear on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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Miami, Florida -- A Texas man pled guilty today to knowingly and willfully making a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement and representation to Special Agents of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service during a criminal investigation into international trafficking of primates into the United States.

Gary Tucker, 64, of Alice, Texas, pled guilty to the charge during a hearing in Fort Lauderdale before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas. In connection with his guilty plea, Tucker admitted the following: He agreed to be interviewed by Special Agents of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) about potential illegal trafficking of wildlife. During the interview, agents asked Tucker about his involvement in the procurement and importation to the United States of long-tailed macaques -- small non-human primates regularly employed in scientific research -- from Southeast Asia. See included image. In particular, agents asked Tucker whether he or others working for his employer, Orient BioResource Center (OBRC), prepared or submitted to OBRC any audits or reports concerning visits to supplier sites in Cambodia. Tucker responded to those questions in the negative, that is, that no supplier site visits were memorialized in any written audit reports to OBRC. In fact, as Tucker well knew, preparation and submission of site visit reports was a standard procedure at OBRC.

According to court documents, the existence of site visit reports or audits was material to the on-going investigation into the trafficking of the primates, whose possession, sale, export and import is highly regulated by the international community and the United States under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to which the United States is a party, and the U.S. Endangered Species Act, Title 16, United States Code, Section 1538, et seq.  Congress has tasked the USFWS to administer and enforce the provisions of the Treaty.

Sentencing in the matter has been set before Judge Dimitrouleas on October 13, at 1:30 pm in Fort Lauderdale. Tucker faces a possible prison sentence of up to five years in jail, a term of supervised release thereafter of up to three years, and a criminal fine of up to $250,000.

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Burke of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Special Investigations Unit made the announcement.

USFWS investigated the case with assistance from Special Agent Jason Molina of Homeland Security Investigations in Newark, New Jersey. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.

You may find related court documents and information on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 21-cr-20263.

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A South Florida resident was arrested yesterday in Miami on charges related to his alleged role in a scheme to bribe Venezuelan officials and launder funds to obtain contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled food company that purchased food for Venezuela, Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícola (CASA).

According to court documents, from 2010 continuing through at least September 2017, Naman Wakil, 59, of Miami, a Syrian national and U.S. lawful permanent resident, allegedly conspired with others to make bribe payments to CASA officials and officials at joint ventures between PDVSA and various foreign companies in the oil-rich Orinoco belt of Venezuela. Wakil allegedly paid these bribes to obtain at least $250 million in contracts to sell food to CASA and do business with the PDVSA joint ventures, including obtaining highly inflated contracts (worth at least $30 million) to provide goods and services to the PDVSA joint ventures. Wakil laundered funds related to the bribery scheme to and from bank accounts located in south Florida and purchased 10 apartment units in south Florida, a $3.5-million plane and a $1.5-million yacht, among other things. Wakil also used a portion of the funds to make payments to or for the benefit of the Venezuelan officials.

Wakil is charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violating the FCPA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, international promotional money laundering and three counts of engaging in transactions involving criminally derived property. If convicted, Wakil faces a maximum penalty of 80 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Wakil made his initial appearance in federal court today at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis in Miami.   

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Tyler R. Hatcher of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Trial Attorney Alexander Kramer of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Berger of the Southern District of Florida are prosecuting the case.

The Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters. Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Miami, Florida -- A South Florida resident made his initial federal court appearance in Miami today to face an indictment charging him with laundering money and bribing Venezuelan officials in exchange for receiving lucrative contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), and Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled food company that purchased food for Venezuela, Corporación de Abastecimiento y Servicios Agrícola (CASA).  

According to court documents, from 2010 continuing through at least September 2017, Naman Wakil, 59, of Miami, a Syrian national and U.S. legal permanent resident, allegedly conspired with others to make bribe payments to CASA officials and officials at joint ventures between PDVSA and various foreign companies in the oil-rich Orinoco belt of Venezuela. Wakil allegedly paid these bribes to obtain at least $250 million in contracts to sell food to CASA and do business with the PDVSA joint ventures, including obtaining highly inflated contracts (worth at least $30 million) to provide goods and services to the PDVSA joint ventures. Wakil laundered funds related to the bribery scheme to and from bank accounts located in south Florida and purchased 10 apartment units in south Florida, a $3.5-million plane and a $1.5-million yacht, among other things. Wakil also used a portion of the funds to make payments to or for the benefit of the Venezuelan officials.

The indictment charges Wakil with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), violating the FCPA, conspiracy to commit money laundering, international promotional money laundering and three counts of engaging in transactions involving criminally derived property. If convicted, Wakil faces a maximum penalty of 80 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Wakil is scheduled for a pretrial detention hearing on Friday, August 6, at 10:00 a.m., in federal magistrate court in Miami.   

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

HSI Miami and IRS-CI Miami investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Berger of the Southern District of Florida and Attorney Alexander Kramer of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case. Deputy Chief, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrienne E. Rosen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Stone are handling asset forfeiture. 

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Miami, Florida -- A Florida man has been sentenced to 33 months in prison for fraudulently seeking over $7,263,564 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Andre Clark, 48, of Miramar, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on May 14. Clark admitted that he obtained a PPP loan of $488,565 on behalf of his company, Top Choice LLC, based on falsified information and documents that a co-conspirator, James Stote, submitted on his behalf.  Clark also admitted to recruiting friends and associates whom he referred to Stote for the purpose of submitting additional fraudulent PPP loan applications, sometimes in exchange for kickbacks. Clark admitted to seeking $6,774,999 in fraudulent PPP loans through other conspirators that he referred to the scheme. In addition to the prison sentence, Clark was ordered to pay $2,975,086 in restitution.

Additionally, two other co-conspirators were recently sentenced for their roles in the scheme.  On July 29, Tonye Johnson, 29, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Johnson admitted to obtaining a fraudulent PPP loan of $389,627 for his company, Synergy Towing & Transport LLC, based on falsified information and documents.  And, on July 13, Tiara Walker, 38, of Miami Gardens, Florida, was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison. Walker admitted to obtaining a fraudulent PPP loan of $258,575 for her company, Utilization Review Pros LLC, based on falsified information and documents.  Both Johnson and Walker falsely inflated the number of employees and monthly payroll for their companies, and they worked with Stote and other co-conspirators to obtain their fraudulent loans.

James Stote was charged by complaint on June 24, 2020, with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and his case remains pending.  A complaint is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida; Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Michael J. De Palma of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite of the SBA’s Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG) Eastern Region made the announcement.

The IRS-CI, FBI, and SBA-OIG investigated the cases.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Turken and David Snider of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney Philip Trout of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the cases.

In May, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

You may find related court documents and information on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case numbers 21-cr-60029, 21-cr-60017, and 20-cr-60159.

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Miami, Florida – Following a bench trial in West Palm Beach last week, United States District Judge Donald Middlebrooks found a Palm Beach county man guilty of receiving child pornography and transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.

At trial, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elena Smukler and Dayron Silverio proved that 39-year-old Mauricio Gonzalez was involved in an unlawful sexual relationship with a 17-year-old Bahamian girl who was being sex trafficked.  According to the evidence they presented at trial, the victim was in the United States in 2020.  During that time, Gonzalez had sex with the girl on several occasions.  The two then began an unlawful sexual and “romantic” relationship, which continued after the victim left the United States.  While the victim was in the Bahamas, Gonzalez requested sexual images from her, asked her to participate in live sexual video streams, and otherwise primed their relationship so as to convince the girl to produce sexualized digital content.  Ultimately, the victim recorded a sexually explicit video of herself and sent it to Gonzalez through a messenger application.  Gonzalez flew the victim from the Bahamas to the United States for sex.

Judge Middlebrooks will sentence Gonzalez on October 4, at 10:30 a.m., at the West Palm Beach federal courthouse.  He faces a maximum of life imprisonment, with a 10 year minimum mandatory for transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and a 5 year minimum mandatory for receipt of child pornography.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.   

HSI Miami and Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.  

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 21-cr-80087.

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