Southern District of Florida

A Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced by United States District Judge Marcia G. Cooke in Miami to 38 months imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, for organizing and engaging in a fraudulent investment scheme in South Florida.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), and J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.

On August 7, 2015, Anthony Lazaro Saumell, 45, of Doral, was convicted by a jury of seven counts of wire fraud.

According to documents and statements made in court, Saumell organized and engaged in a complex fraudulent investment scheme to defraud investors in South Florida.  Saumell deceived victims into investing approximately $3.9 million dollars into his company, Gear Management Corporation.  Victims were told their investment would be used to purchase aircraft parts which would then be sold for a profit.  Saumell guaranteed victims a ten percent profit within thirty days but subsequently used the incoming investments to pay other investors or on his personal expenses, such as jewelry, dining, alimony, private school and art galleries.  By October 2013, Saumell had spent all of the investors' funds and Gear Management Corporation became insolvent.  Investors suffered approximately $1 million dollars in losses.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and MDPD.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gera Peoples and AUSA Daya Nathan.

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.

Following a 23-day trial before United States District Court Judge Joan A. Lenard, a jury convicted Alejandro Amor, the owner of a Florida for-profit college called FastTrain, of one count of conspiracy to steal government money and twelve substantive counts of theft of government money.  FastTrain admissions representative Anthony Mincey was also convicted of conspiracy to steal government money.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Yessyka Santana, Special Agent in Charge, Department of Education, Office of Inspector General (ED-OIG) and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.   

According to evidence presented at trial, starting in 2010, FastTrain admissions representatives, acting at the direction of Alejandro Amor, began recruiting potential students in low income neighborhoods in Miami-Dade, Broward, Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Duval Counties, where FastTrain’s seven campuses were located.  When admissions representatives encountered potential students who were ineligible for federal student aid because they had not graduated from high school or earned a GED, the admissions representatives enrolled the potential students anyway, and coached them to lie on their applications to the United States Department of Education for federal student aid, including federal Pell Grants and Direct Loans.  Often, FastTrain admissions representatives falsely promised the students they could earn their high school diplomas or GEDs at FastTrain and in some cases, FastTrain admissions representatives actually created fictitious high school diplomas on FastTrain computers.  Six student witnesses identified Anthony Mincey as the admissions representative who had coached them to lie about their eligibility.

Once the applications for federal student aid had been processed, millions of dollars in Pell Grants and Direct Loans were disbursed to FastTrain bank accounts controlled by Alejandro Amor and his wife.  Alejandro Amor used those funds to make payments on, among other things, his waterfront home, airplane, car, and yacht.

According to the testimony and evidence introduced at trial, Alejandro Amor routinely falsified student records, emails, policy memoranda, and reports of internal investigations to hide the actions of his admissions representatives and retain federal student aid on behalf of the ineligible students enrolled at FastTrain.  In one instance, Alejandro Amor created a fictitious disciplinary record for an admissions representative who had been caught coaching students to lie about their eligibility, before sending that admissions representative back out onto the streets to continue recruiting.

Alejandro Amor is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lenard on February 3, 2016, at 3:00 p.m.  Anthony Mincey is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lenard on February 3, 2016, at 3:30 p.m.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ED-OIG and the FBI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amanda Perwin and Vanessa Snyder.

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.

Two foreign nationals charged with orchestrating an international mail fraud scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Ronald J. Verrochio, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, made the announcement.

On November 19, 2015, Cristian Mariano Pardo, 30, and Jorge Gabriel Barca, 33, both of Buenos Aires, Argentina, were indicted in West Palm Beach on a single count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341 and fifteen counts of mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349.   The defendants each face up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and mandatory restitution, on each charge.  Pardo was arraigned this morning on the indictment.  Barca has not yet been arrested.

According to the indictment, between September 2008 and September 2015, the defendants operated telemarketing call centers or “boiler rooms,” in Argentina that targeted Spanish-speaking consumers residing in the United States.  The defendants obtained the names of these consumers from lead lists which they had purchased in Argentina.  The lists included names of consumers who had previously made online or direct mail purchases of various items, including items sold on Spanish language television, such as English classes. 

The telemarketers, acting at the direction of the defendants, would call Spanish-speaking U.S. residents to tell them that they would be receiving a small parcel in the mail that the consumers had ordered.  The callers would state that if the consumers failed to pay for the cost on delivery (C.O.D.) package – typically a charge of $500 - they would be subject to lawsuits, expensive attorney’s fees and court costs, arrest, deportation, and/or have their credit ruined.

In truth, these consumers had not ordered any merchandise, and only paid the $500 demanded for the C.O.D. because of the numerous threats made by the boiler room callers.

When consumers refused delivery of a package sent by the defendants’ companies, they frequently were contacted again by the Argentinian telemarketers, who often identified themselves as attorneys.  The callers again threatened the consumers if they refused to accept the packages. 

As a result of these threats, numerous consumers paid an average of $500 for products of nominal value that they in fact had never ordered, fearing the consequences of failing to do so.  In order to avoid detection and the filing of consumer complaints, Pardo and Barca changed the names of their companies frequently.  During the course of the conspiracy, Pardo and Barca, through their companies, attempted to collect C.O.D. fees from thousands of consumers, and collected at least $700,000 in proceeds from the targeted consumers.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of USPIS.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Jorgensen.

An indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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.

A Wellington resident was sentenced to 60 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute heroin, identity theft and filing false tax return charges.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations Miami Office (DOL-OIG), and Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sherriff’s Office (PBSO), made the announcement.

Christopher Richard Edwards, 26, of Wellington, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra to 60 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Edwards was also ordered to pay $212,936 in restitution. 

According to the Superseding Information and court documents, a search warrant was executed on Edwards’ apartment, during which law enforcement found approximately 159 access device cards in other peoples’ names, three laptop computers, an encoder/decoder, a credit card embosser, a currency counter machine, and several ledgers containing personal identifying information (PII).  In addition to the evidence of identity theft and access device fraud, agents also recovered 66 capsules containing heroin, a digital scale, and a plate containing heroin residue.

A forensic examination of Edwards’ computer revealed substantial filings for unemployment benefits, consistent with the unemployment benefit cards found in his apartment. The unemployment claims filed from Edwards’ computer in 2014 totaled $287,360. Law enforcement also determined that Edwards filed 41 federal tax returns containing false information in the names of others claiming a total of $299,240 in false tax refunds.

The total amount of loss attributable to Edwards is $586,600, including the actual payments and intended fraud.  Restitution payable for the paid unemployment claims and tax returns totals $212,936.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of USSS, IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, and PBSO. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren E. Jorgensen. 

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.

A leader of a Little Haiti based drug trafficking organization and identity theft tax fraud scheme was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment by Senior United States District Judge Donald L. Graham. 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Carlos A. Canino, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Espere Desmond Pierre, 33, of Miami, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over two hundred eighty (280) grams of crack cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 841(b)(1)(A); possession with intent to distribute over 28 grams of crack cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B); possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A); conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349; and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). 

The Court sentenced Pierre to be imprisoned for a total term of 264 months (22 years).  The Court further ordered that Pierre serve a five year term of supervised release, following his release from custody, and that Pierre pay a special assessment of $500.

According to court documents, Pierre and co-defendant Markentz Blanc, 34, of Miami, conspired as supervisors and directors of a drug-trafficking organization that distributed cocaine base (commonly referred to as “crack” cocaine) through multiple storage and retail distribution locations in the Little Haiti area of Miami-Dade County.  Pierre and Blanc also conspired to obtain the personal identifying information (PII), including the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, of various persons.  Pierre and Blanc then used the unauthorized information to submit fraudulent tax returns in order to claim income tax refunds to which they were not entitled. 

Earlier this year, Blanc and another co-defendant, Willis Maxi, 33, of Miami, were each convicted following a jury trial and sentenced to 300 and 312 months’ imprisonment, respectively.  Five additional co-defendants – including Meluin Jermaine Braynen, 21, Wisvelt Voltaire, 33, Alex Bermudez, 26, Sanders Bermudez, 23, and Kervens Lalanne, 25, all of Miami, previously pled guilty and were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 18 to 188 months.

Through its Violence Reduction Partnership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its federal and local law enforcement allies have sought to dismantle the most violent criminal networks in various neighborhoods in the Southern District of Florida, while simultaneously working with community leaders and concerned citizens to mentor at-risk youth, provide job training, coordinate social services and support the reintegration of ex-offenders (returning citizens) to the community.

Mr. Ferrer thanked FBI, ATF, IRS-CI, the Miami-Dade Police Department, and the City of Miami Police Department for their work on this case.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth M. Schlessinger and Olivia S. Choe. 

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.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, Timothy Camus, Deputy Inspector General for Investigations, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Margaret Moore-Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami Dade Police Department (MDPD), Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, Ronald J. Verrochio, Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations Miami Office (DOL-OIG), Carlos Canino, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Amos Rojas, Jr., United States Marshal, U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Jesse Panuccio, Executive Director, Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), Steve Steinberg, Chief, Aventura Police Department, J. Scott Dennis, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department (NMBPD), Scott Israel, Sheriff, Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), Tony Pustizzi, Chief, Coral Springs Police Department (CSPD), Edward J. Hudak, Jr., Chief, Coral Gables Police Department, Rudy Herbello, Assistant Chief, Golden Beach Police Department, Ray Black, Chief, Miramar Police Department, W. Howard Harrison, Chief, Plantation Police Department, Franklin Adderley, Chief, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, Rodolfo Llanes, Chief, Miami Police Department (MPD), and Dan Guistino, Chief, Pembroke Pines Police Department, announce the filing of federal charges against 61 defendants in 43 separate cases, dealing with tens of thousands of stolen identities and millions of dollars stolen from individuals, businesses and government agencies through fraudulent schemes. Today’s cases reaffirm the joint federal, state and local commitment to the prosecution of perpetrators who steal, sell and use personal identification information to commit identity theft fraud schemes.

In an attempt to combat the rising wave of stolen identity tax refund scams, and armed with recent directives from the Department of Justice’s Tax Division, making prosecutions faster and easier, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida established the South Florida Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force (Strike Force) in August 2012.  With the escalating spread of fraud offenses, the Strike Force has broadened the scope of its focus and is now identified as the Identity Theft Fraud Strike Force.

The cases announced in this takedown demonstrate the pernicious and prevalent nature of identity theft fraud.  This fraud permeates every aspect of the public sphere and private industry.  The expanded scope of the Identity Theft Fraud Strike Force recognizes the breadth of this problem and demonstrates law enforcement’s ability to tackle the ever evolving identity theft threat.  No longer limited to stolen identity tax refund fraud or any type of government benefit fraud, the Strike Force is investigating and prosecuting cases including an intrusion into proprietary government databases, takeovers by identity thieves of accounts as diverse as U.S. Social Security accounts, retail credit card accounts, and bank accounts, and the use of skimmers to steal valuable personal identity information.  These cases demonstrate that law enforcement in general and the Strike Force in particular continue to adapt to meet this insidious identity theft threat.

Since the inception of the Strike Force, we have charged 433 defendants, who were responsible for approximately $352 million in intended losses and in excess of $142 million in actual SIRF fraud loss.

The members of the Strike Force, and participating agencies, include the United States Attorney’s Office, IRS-CI, TIGTA, SSA-OIG, ICE-HSI, FBI, MDPD, USSS, USPIS, DOL-OIG, ATF, USMS, DEO, Aventura Police Department, NMBPD, BSO, CSPD, Coral Gables Police Department, Golden Beach Police Department, Miramar Police Department, Plantation Police Department, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, MPD, and Pembroke Pines Police Department.

United States Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer stated, “Identity theft continues to plague our community in evolving ways.  Identity thieves are now using stolen personal identity information to infiltrate proprietary government databases and accounts of private individuals at banks, retailers and other financial institutions.  We remain committed to stopping identity thieves who cost individuals and entities across the public and private sectors billions of dollars.  The cost of identity theft cannot be measured in dollars alone, as it further undermines the financial stability of identity theft victims and wreaks havoc on their lives.  Our Office thanks the dedicated members of federal, state and local law enforcement who work tirelessly to bring these offenders to justice.”

Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), stated, “As a result of today’s coordinated effort, we have charged and arrested individuals who participated in different roles related to stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) and numerous other identity theft schemes. IRS-CI remains committed to allocating time and resources to investigating those who victimize individuals for their own personal gain. The investigation of egregious return preparers and SIRF cases remain a top priority for IRS-CI.”

“We estimate that criminals steal billions of dollars of IRS tax refunds each year by utilizing various schemes involving stolen identities.  This crime victimizes not only the person whose identity has been stolen, but every American taxpayer.  Prosecuting individuals for stealing identity information and refunds will continue to be one of our top investigative priorities,” said TIGTA Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Timothy Camus. 

“Social Security payments are a lifeline for many Americans who are retired or unable to work due to disability.  These indictments are a testament to our serious commitment to pursuing those who would victimize Social Security beneficiaries.  Our office is gratified by the U.S. Attorney’s shared commitment to investigate and prosecute this type of fraud, which affects all Americans,” Special Agent in Charge Margaret Moore-Jackson, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General.

“Ranging from tax fraud to immigration fraud violations, ICE-HSI strives to disrupt identity theft on many levels to protect our citizens and financial infrastructure,” said Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Miami.  “We will continue to utilize our very broad authorities and vast skills to support this important mission with our partner agencies.”

Juan J. Perez, Acting Director, Miami-Dade Police Department, announced that “The investigations and arrests highlighted today are yet another example of how much can be accomplished through strong relationships and collaboration between law enforcement agencies at all levels. The Miami-Dade Police Department remains committed to this spirit of teamwork and to using all tools available in combating the crimes of fraud and identity theft which affect the entire community.”    

“The U.S. Mail remains one of the most secure means of transmitting personal information,” said Ronald Verrochio, Inspector in Charge, USPIS, Miami Division. “The Postal Inspection Service is committed to ensuring the nation’s mail system is not exploited by criminals for illicit financial gain.”  

“An important part of the DOL-OIG mission is to investigate unemployment insurance fraud, often perpetrated through identity theft.  We are committed to continuing to work with our Identity Theft Strike Force partners and the law enforcement agencies in other affected states in an effort to combat this issue,” stated Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Regional Office of the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations.

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Jesse Panuccio said, “Identity theft and related fraud have reached crisis levels, and the Department of Economic Opportunity has made fighting this fraud a top priority.  Over the last two years, we have stopped 135,000 fraudulent claims with a potential value of $558 million.  The criminals who attempt this fraud need to understand that they will be caught, arrested, and prosecuted.   We are thankful for our partnership with, and the hard work of, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.”

Today, U.S. Attorney Ferrer, joined by members of the Identity Theft Fraud Strike Force, announce the most recent results of their investigative efforts. The cases announced today include:  

A.        STOLEN DATA

1. United States v. Marvin Ricardo Herard, Case No. 15-20898-CR-Gayles

On November 17, 2015, Marvin Ricardo Herard, 26, of Miami, was charged in a thirteen-count indictment for his participation in an identity theft tax fraud scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, between October 2011 and July 2015, Herard was involved in a stolen identity refund scheme that used stolen personal identification information to file false federal income tax returns.  Herard and his co-conspirators also used stolen personal identification information to access the Internal Revenue Service’s “Get Transcript” service and obtain tax records of their identity theft victims.  Herard and his co-conspirators caused the IRS to deposit the fraudulent tax returns onto prepaid debit cards and bank accounts controlled by them, and Herard used a debit card number registered to another person.

Herard was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, and use of unauthorized access devices. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, TIGTA and NMBPD.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan.

2. United States v. Arvis Jamar Lawson, Case No. 15-06494-MJ-Valle

On November 17, 2015, Arvis Jamar Lawson, 30, of Broward County, was charged by complaint for his participation in an access device fraud scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the complaint, Lawson possessed and exchanged with co-conspirators numerous individuals’ personal identification information, including names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Lawson also possessed personal identification information for an individual who had been the victim of a fraudulent tax return filing.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of TIGTA, IRS-CI, NMBPD and Fort Lauderdale Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan.

B.        ACCOUNT TAKEOVERS

3. United States v. Judel Jean-Charles, Case No. 15-6490-MJ-Valle                                                                                                                              

On November 16, 2015, Judel Jean-Charles, 24, of Miami, was charged by criminal complaint with using an unauthorized access device to obtain a thing of value aggregating $1,000 or more and aggravated identity theft. 

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, on or about July 18, 2015, an anonymous person called the Miramar Police Department to report suspicious activity at an ATM located at a Wells Fargo branch located in Miramar, Florida.  An officer from the Miramar Police Department responded to the scene and observed an individual, later identified as Jean-Charles, matching the description provided by the anonymous caller.

 While the officer was speaking to Jean-Charles, the defendant dropped something on the ground at the rear of a vehicle.  As a second police officer arrived, Jean-Charles fled the scene on foot leading the officers on a chase through the fenced in yards of several homes in the area before he was caught by the officers.  A search of Jean-Charles recovered $7,200 in cash from his pocket.  The officers also recovered two Visa credit cards in other individuals’ names, one from the defendant’s flight path and the other from the vehicle. The defendant was arrested on state charges.

A subsequent investigation revealed that the two Visa credit cards in other individuals’ names were issued by the same bank (the “Victim Bank”).  Investigators made contact with the Victim Bank and learned that the Visa credit cards belonged to individuals living in the State of Ohio.  Investigators further learned that both accounts had been compromised by unidentified individuals who called the Victim Bank and (i) ordered replacement cards to be sent to an address in Florida and (ii) changed the PIN numbers on the respective accounts.  Further, it appears that the unidentified callers utilized masking software when they called the Victim Bank to make it appear that they were calling from the account holders’ phone numbers on record with the Victim Bank in a process known as “spoofing.”  In total, the Victim Bank reported to law enforcement that on July 18, 2015, the two replacement cards recovered by the Miramar Police Department were used to make an ATM withdrawal in the amount of $7,227 from the Wells Fargo branch in Miramar, Florida, and a $6,424 ATM withdrawal from a Wells Fargo Branch in Pembroke Pines, Florida.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of Aventura Police Department, Miramar Police Department and IRS-CI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke C. Watson. 

4. United States v. Jean Ductan, Case No. 15-200861-CR-Ungaro           

On November 5, 2015, Jean Ductan, 34, of Miami, was charged in a five-count indictment for his participation in a debit card fraud scheme. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, from October 2014 to October 15, 2015, Ductan engaged in a conspiracy to use unauthorized debit cards to obtain something of value aggregating $1,000 or more.  Members of the conspiracy ordered replacement pins and debit cards for at least three victims’ accounts and stole the replacement pins and debit cards from the mail at the victims’ addresses.  Ductan then used the debit cards to withdraw at least $4,000 from the victims’ accounts at ATMs in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. 

According to additional court documents, on October 15, 2015, law enforcement officers observed Ductan drive up to the mailbox of a residence in Plantation, Florida, sort through the mail, and drive away.  During an investigatory stop of the vehicle, officers found two envelopes addressed to that same residence.  The envelopes contained debit cards that had been taken without the knowledge and authority of the addressee.

The indictment charges Ductan with conspiracy to use unauthorized debit cards to obtain $1,000 or more, use of unauthorized debit cards to obtain $1,000 or more, aggravated identity theft, and theft of mail.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the USPIS. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya R. Long. 

5. United States v. Nadia Coles, et al., Case No. 15-20827-CR-Gayles                                                                                                                              

On November 17, 2015, Nadia Coles, 36, Deidra Steed, 27, Brittany Roby, 28, Kevin Bennet, 37, Zakeylia Ward, 23, and Eugene Rodriguez, 21, all of Miami, were charged in a seventeen-count indictment for their participation in a conspiracy to use stolen personal identity information (PII) to take over unauthorized credit card accounts at department stores in South Florida. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, at least as early as August 2015, the defendants and their co-conspirators would use the stolen PII to call and fraudulently add themselves as authorized users of the victims’ credit card accounts.  The defendants would then travel to the department stores and request to purchase large amounts of merchandise using the victims’ credit card accounts.  The defendants and their co-conspirators would enter the true customers’ stolen Social Security number into the keypad at the store counter or provide the customers’ PII directly to the cashier in order to complete the purchases. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the MDPD Economic Crimes Bureau/Organized Fraud Intelligence Squad (OFIS).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Abraham.

6. United States v. Frisler Clairvil, Case No. 15-60295-CR-Dimitrouleas/Snow

On November 17, 2015, Frisler Clairvil, 29, of Lauderdale Lakes, was charged in an eight-count indictment for his participation in a conspiracy to use stolen personal identity information (PII) to commit Social Security fraud. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, at least as early as June 2013, the defendant and his co-conspirators would use the stolen PII to obtain Social Security benefit payments that belonged to Social Security beneficiaries.  To accomplish this scheme, Clairvil and his co-conspirators logged onto the Social Security Administration website, “My Social Security,” with the victims’ names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers to open online accounts in those victims’ identities.  Once the online accounts were opened, Clairvil and his co-conspirators redirected the Social Security benefit payments from the victims to themselves by having the funds deposited into bank accounts which they controlled.  To further conceal their criminal activity, Clairvil and his co-conspirators opened these bank accounts using stolen PII of other persons.

From June 2013 to October 2015, Clairvil and his co-conspirators used the stolen PII of over 1,300 victims and stole over $300,000 in Social Security benefits.

Clairvil was charged with conspiracy to use unauthorized access devices, access device fraud, theft of government money, and aggravated identity theft. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the SSA-OIG.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Abraham.

7. United States v. Alexander Bernard Harris, Case No. 15-20850-CR-Middlebrooks                                                                                                                              

On October 30, 2015, Alexander Bernard Harris, 25, of Miami, was charged in a six-count indictment for the theft of Social Security benefits.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Harris re-directed the Social Security benefits of other individuals into bank accounts in his own name by stealing the personal identifying information of Social Security beneficiaries.   

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the SSA-OIG.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Langley.

8. United States v. Hervens Steven Sanon, Case No. 15-20849-CR-Gayles                                                                                                                              

On October 30, 2015, Hervens Steven Sanon, 29, of Miami, was charged in a five-count indictment for the theft of Social Security benefits.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Sannon stole the Social Security benefits of other individuals and deposited those benefits into his own account.   

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the SSA-OIG.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Langley.

9. United States v. Samonique Honer, Case No. 15-03497-MJ-Simonton

On November 18, 2015, Samonique Honer, 26, of Miami, was charged by criminal complaint for her participation in a stolen identity Social Security Administration (SSA) benefit and tax fraud scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, from approximately February 2014, and continuing through at least October 2014, Honer conspired with others to knowingly and willfully receive for her own use and gain SSA benefit payments and United States Department of Treasury tax refund checks, knowing that the benefit payments and tax refunds had been stolen and converted.  Honer and her co-conspirators obtained SSA benefits and tax information belonging to other individuals without their knowledge and authority.  They subsequently unjustly enriched themselves by obtaining SSA benefit payments and United States Department of Treasury tax refunds, to which they were not entitled. 

According to the complaint, on or about February 25, 2014, Honer incorporated Hooner Financial Accounting Services, LLC (Hooner Financial) a Florida corporation, with its principal place of business in Mimi-Dade County.  Honer was listed on corporate documents as the manager and registered agent of Hooner Financial.  Bank records indicate that on or about February 28, 2014, Honer opened a Citibank, N.A. bank account in the name of Hooner Financial.  One debit card, with a corresponding PIN, was issued in connection with the account.  Honer was the only signatory on the bank account.  Honer and her co-conspirators designated this bank account for the deposit of the fraudulently obtained SSA payments and federal income tax refunds.  Surveillance video captured conspirators withdrawing funds from this account for their own use and benefit. 

The criminal complaint charges the defendant with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, and theft of government property. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the SSA-OIG and IRS-CI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne P. McNamara. 

10. United States v. Emelia Chang and Ashley Palmieri, Case No. 15-6492-MJ-Valle           

On November 17, 2015, Emelia Chang, 25, of Miami, and Ashley Palmieri, 24, of Miami Gardens, were charged by criminal complaint for their participation in a debit card fraud scheme to order replacement debit cards and personal identification numbers (“pins”) to be sent to victims’ addresses; steal those debit cards and pins from the mail; and use them to withdraw funds from victims’ accounts without authorization.

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, from October 2, 2014 to October 21, 2014, Chang and Palmieri engaged in a conspiracy to use unauthorized debit cards to obtain something of value aggregating $1,000 or more.  Members of the conspiracy ordered replacement pins and debit cards for at least two victims’ accounts and stole the replacement pins and debit cards from the mail at the victims’ addresses.  Chang then used the debit cards to withdraw at least $5,100 from the victims’ accounts at ATMs in Broward County.  On October 21, 2014, law enforcement officers observed Palmieri drive up to a mailbox in Pembroke Pines, Florida, take the mail, and drive away.  During an investigatory stop of the vehicle, officers found mail addressed to that same residence, including a letter that appeared to contain a debit card and one that appeared to contain a pin number. In a post-Miranda statement, Palmieri admitted to driving Chang to banks, where Chang made ATM withdrawals.

The complaint charges Chang and Palmieri with conspiracy to use unauthorized debit cards to obtain $1,000 or more.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of USPIS.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya R. Long.

C.        SKIMMING CASES

11. United States v. Anthony Nunovero and Edelso Sanchez, Case No. 15-20884-CR-Huck                                                                                                                              

On November 13, 2015, Anthony Nunovero, 29, and Edelso Sanchez, 53, both of Miami, were charged in an eight-count indictment for their participation in a conspiracy to illicitly install credit card skimmers at gas pumps in South Florida gas stations in order to steal the credit card account information of unsuspecting customers and then making and using counterfeit credit cards with the stolen information.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, at least as early as August 2015, the defendants and their co-conspirators installed credit card scanning devices which were modified to attach to the credit card readers in area gas pumps so that the scanners would capture the credit card account information of unsuspecting customers.  The defendants and their co-conspirators would open the targeted gas pumps, install the credit card scanning device, close the pump and replace the gas pump tamper-proof seal stickers with counterfeit tamper-proof stickers.  They would later collect the skimmer and create counterfeit credit cards with the credit card account information that had been taken from unsuspecting customers.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the MDPD Economic Crimes Bureau/Organized Fraud Intelligence Squad (OFIS).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Langley.

12. United States v. Randy Normul Pierre, Case No. 15-20661-CR-Altonaga                                                                                                                              

Randy Normul Pierre, 29, of Miami, was charged in a six-count indictment for his participation in an identity theft scheme. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, the defendant possessed device-making equipment, including State of Florida seal adhesives and card stock, as well as the Social Security numbers of fifteen or more persons.  On September 23, 2015, Pierre pled guilty to identity theft and the unlawful possession of device-making equipment.  Pierre is scheduled to be sentenced on November 30, 2015 before U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and FBI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John R. Byrne.

13. United States v. Marlin Jean, Case No. 15-20870-CR-Moreno                                                                                                                              

On November 6, 2015, Marlin Jean, 24, of Miami, was charged in a three-count indictment for possessing 15 or more counterfeit credit cards and credit card account numbers, access device-making equipment, and a stolen firearm.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the USSS and MPD.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Langley.

14. United States v. Rolando Aguilar Conde,  Case No. 15-20877-CR-Martinez

On January 30, 2015, Rolando Aguilar Conde, 29, of Miami, was charged in a two-count indictment with unauthorized possession of device-making equipment and aggravated identity theft.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment and other court records, on September 22, 2015, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Conde’s residence pursuant to an investigation of identity theft and credit card fraud of other residents, including the defendant’s mother.  During the search, law enforcement officers discovered, among other things, a credit card “skimming” device and a credit card embossed with Conde’s name and encoded with a debit account number issued to another person in Conde’s bedroom.  In addition, law enforcement discovered 28 other credit cards embossed with Conde’s name and encoded with credit and debit card account numbers issued to other persons.  The investigation also revealed that the “skimming” device contained a debit card account number that had been issued to another person. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the ICE-HSI and the CSPD.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein.                                                                                                                            

D.        MONEY SERVICE BUSINESSES

15. United States v. Junior Jean Baptiste, Case No. 15-20777-CR-Martinez

On October 1, 2015, Junior Jean Baptiste, 35, of Miami, was charged in a twenty-count indictment for his participation in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme involving the cashing of fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Baptiste operated a check-cashing store called Surveillance Master LLC in North Miami, Florida from 2010 to 2012.  At this store, the defendant cashed fraudulently obtained tax refund checks for a fifty-percent fee and knowingly possessed hundreds of false identification documents corresponding to tax refund checks.  Hundreds of the tax refund checks had been issued in the names of deceased persons.  In total, the defendant cashed over $10 million in fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.  Among other things, Baptiste used proceeds from this fraud scheme to purchase a cargo ship, registered in Palau.  

The defendant was charged with possession of five or more false identification documents and aggravated identity theft.  

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and ICE-HSI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger. 

16. United States v. Gino Denis, Case No. 15-03496-MJ-Simonton

      United States v. Sebastien Dumond, Case No. 15-20839-CR-Moreno                                                                                                                                   

On November 18, 2015, Gino Denis, 32, of Miami Lakes, was charged by criminal complaint for his participation in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme involving the cashing of fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.  Sebastien Dumond, 25, of Miami, was previously charged in a one-count information for his role in this scheme. 

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, Denis operated Tiblanc Multi-Services in Miami, Florida in 2012 and 2013.  At this store, Denis cashed approximately $3.8 million in fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.  Denis directed the proceeds of this fraud for his own personal benefit by wiring funds to his wife’s account, to his landlord for rent, and to others for cash payments. 

According to the complaint, in June 2015, Denis discussed cashing fraudulently obtained tax refund checks, in exchange for a 30% facilitator’s fee.  Denis directed co-conspirator Dumond to cash the fraudulently obtained checks with using false identification documents.  Dumond cashed approximately $120,000 in fraudulently obtained tax refund checks.  

Denis was charged with conspiracy to commit theft of government money, theft of government money, and money laundering.  Dumond was charged with conspiracy to commit theft of government money. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, ICE-HSI, FBI, USSS, Coral Gables Police Department, and Golden Beach Police Department.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger.     

        E.        EFIN/TAX PREPARATION BUSINESS FRAUD

17. United States v. Johny Wolf Jasmin and Carneisha Patrice Mitchell, Case No. 15-60276-CR-Zloch

Johny Wolf Jasmin, 32, of Boca Raton, and Carneisha Patrice Mitchell, 31, of Miami, were charged in a ten-count indictment for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme.  

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, from on or about September 5, 2013, to March 4, 2015, in Hollywood, Florida, the defendants used various Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (“EFIN’s”), to file false and fraudulent federal income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) seeking refunds using stolen personal identifying information (“PII”) that was issued to living and deceased individuals.  After the fraudulent tax returns were received by the IRS, the defendants arranged to have the tax refund payments loaded to various pre-paid debit cards in the names of taxpayers whose names and Social Security numbers were used to file false and fraudulent tax returns or issued by check in the names of taxpayers whose names and Social Security numbers were used to file false and fraudulent tax returns. In total, approximately $1.4 million in fraudulent tax refunds were sought from the IRS. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, FBI and ICE-HSI. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurice A. Johnson. 

18. United States v. Shontavia Monique Williams, Case No. 15-20878-CR-Altonaga

On November 13, 2015, Shontavia Monique Williams, 32, of Miami, was charged by indictment with participating in a fraudulent income tax refund scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, A-Z Tax Solutions, Inc. (“A-Z Tax”) was a business in Opa-Locka, Florida.  Williams was the registered agent and owner of A-Z Tax, a tax preparation business.  Williams maintained a bank account, in the name of A-Z Tax.  The IRS permitted tax professionals to submit tax returns in the names of other individuals, in accordance with the rules and requirements of the IRS’s e-file program.

From January 17, 2012, through February 13, 2012, Williams filed income tax returns claiming tax refunds in the names of other people, knowing such claims were false, fictitious, and fraudulent.  Williams used, without authorization, the Social Security numbers belonging to other individuals, to file the fraudulent claims.  The claims totaled approximately $41,504.00.  From February 1, 2012 through February 8, 2012, Williams received a total of approximately $33,858 in fraudulent tax refunds via U.S. Treasury electronic funds transfers issued to various payees. 

Williams is charged with six counts of filing false, fictitious, and fraudulent individual income tax returns; five counts of theft of government property; and five counts of aggravated identity theft.   

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, City of Miami Police Department and NMBPD. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ilham A. Hosseini.

19. United States v. Wolf Obin, Stanley Muscova, and Rosny Muller, Case No. 15-20885-CR-Gayles                                                                                                                              

On November 13, 2015, Wolf Obin, 32, of Miami-Dade, Stanley Muscova, 28, of Miami-Dade, and Rosny Muller, 29, of Broward County, were charged in an eight-count indictment for their participation in a conspiracy to commit tax fraud using other peoples’ stolen identities.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, beginning in or around October 2011, Obin, Muscova, and Muller fraudulently obtained Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (“EFINs”) in the names of other individuals who acted as “straw” EFIN holders which allowed the defendants to submit tax returns in the names of other individuals.  The defendants then used those EFINs, as well as EFINs in their own names, to file false and fraudulent federal income tax returns using the stolen personal identifying information of other individuals without their knowledge and authority.  When law enforcement executed a search warrant on the defendants’ Aventura apartment, they discovered the personal identifying information of more than 1,600 individuals.  Through their tax filings, the defendants claimed approximately $2,900,000 and caused the IRS to pay approximately $1,700,000 in illicit federal tax refunds. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and Aventura Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Langley.

20. United States v. David Robersant Louis, Case No. 15-6495-MJ-Valle

On November 17, 2015, David Robersant Louis, 36, of Miami, was charged by criminal complaint with possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices, that is, Social Security numbers issued to other persons.

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, Louis possessed in his computers the personal identifying information (PII) of hundreds of individuals, including their Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and names.  This PII was used to file fraudulent tax returns from an IP address linked to Louis, in Miramar, Florida. 

Mr. Ferrer commends the efforts of ICE-HSI and IRS-CI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan K. Osborne.

F.         STOLEN TREASURY CHECKS

21. United States v. Fidel Rodriguez, Case No. 15-20743-CR-Martinez

On September 24, 2015, Fidel Rodriguez, 56, of Miami, was charged in a one-count information for his involvement in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme and account takeover scheme involving the cashing of fraudulently obtained checks.  

According to documents filed in Court, Rodriguez was allegedly part of a conspiracy involving the filing of at least $14 million in fraudulent large-dollar tax refund claims—each ranging from approximately $140,000 to $170,000—in 2014.  These fraudulent refund requests were submitted for payment using stolen identity information.  Over 100 of these tax refunds were directed for payment to the same address in Hialeah.  The defendant is on surveillance video from a local bank depositing two fraudulently obtained tax refund checks—each totaling approximately $160,000—that had been in September and October 2014.  Separately, Rodriguez also deposited fraudulently obtained temporary bank checks—one for approximately $195,000 and one for approximately $400,000—using compromised bank account information at a local bank in Miami in December 2014 and January 2015. 

Rodriguez was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft of government money. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Strike Force, with special commendation to IRS-CI, FBI, and ICE-HSI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger. 

22. United States v. Shirley Saint-Louis, Case No. 15-3498-MJ-Simonton

On November 17, 2015, Shirley Saint-Louis, 20, of North Miami, was charged by criminal complaint for her theft of government money.

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, in December 2014, Saint-Louis deposited into her own bank accounts Department of Treasury checks for Social Security benefits and tax refunds that belonged to other individuals and which had been altered so that Saint-Louis’ name and address appeared on the check instead of the intended beneficiaries’ name and address.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the SSA-OIG.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Abraham.

23. United States v. Anthony Maycock and Roshea Alexis Reid, Case No. 15-20852-CR-Moore

On November 3, 2015, Anthony Maycock, 57, and Roshea Alexis Reid, 21, both of Miami, were charged in a two-count indictment with conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and theft of government money.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Maycock, Reid, and their co-conspirators obtained and altered a United States Treasury check in the amount of $31,401 and deposited it into a bank account controlled by them.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of TIGTA.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan. 

24. United States v. Shonteaka Moore, Case No. 15-20880-CR-Lenard

On November 13, 2015, Shonteaka Moore, 31, of Miami Gardens, was charged in a four-count indictment with theft of government money and aggravated identity theft. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Moore knowingly received, concealed, and retained at least two United States Department of Treasury checks with an aggregate value of more than $1,000.  Moore intended to convert these checks for her own personal use and gain, despite knowing they had been stolen.  Specifically, on April 26, 2014, Moore deposited a United States Department of Treasury tax refund check issued in the amount of $1,441 into a SunTrust bank account that she controlled.  Then, on May 20, 2014, she deposited another United States Department of Treasury tax refund check issued in the amount of $10,000 into the same bank account.  Both times, Moore knowingly transferred the money to herself, without lawful authority, by using the names and signatures of the victims. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Aventura Police Department and IRS-CI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne McNamara.

25. United States v. Jean Daniel Julien, Case No. 15-8610-CR-Brannon

On November 17, 2015, Jean Daniel Julien, was charged by criminal complaint for his participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme which occurred in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, Julien received a $56,000 U.S. Treasury refund check in the name of “D.H.”  Another individual opened a bank account in D.H.’s name, and the defendant deposited the refund check into this account.  Julien then deposited a $55,000 starter check written on the D.H. account into a business account controlled by Julien’s wife.   During the next three days, most of the $55,000 was withdrawn from the account.

The complaint charges the defendant with theft of government money and bank fraud.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William Zloch.

26. United States v. Lori Sue Lotter, Case No. 15-20848-CR-Moreno                                                                                                                              

On October 30, 2015, Lori Sue Lotter, 41, of Miami, was charged by indictment with theft of a United States Department of Treasury tax refund check.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, on May 19, 2014, Lotter deposited into her own bank account a Department of Treasury tax refund check that belonged to another individual and which had been altered so that Lotter’s name and address appeared on the check instead of the intended beneficiaries’ name and address.   

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the USSS.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Langley.

27. United States v. Johanne Hilaire, Case No.15-20873-CR-Seitz

On November 10, 2015, Johanne Hilaire, 30, of Miami, was charged by indictment with four counts of theft of government money.  According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Hilaire retained for her own use and gain over $10,000 of stolen United States Treasury checks.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of TIGTA.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan.

28. United States v. Darius Terrell Parke, Case No.15-60279-CR-Cohn

On November 10, 2015, Darius Terrell Parke, 19, of Miami, was charged by indictment with fraudulent endorsement of a United States Treasury check, theft of government money, and aggravated identity theft.  According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Parke fraudulently endorsed and cashed a United States Treasury check that belonged to another individual.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, TIGTA and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.   The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan. 

29. United States v. Tewon Ieshia Thompson, Case No.15-60280-CR-Zloch

On November 10, 2015, Tewon Ieshia Thompson, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, was charged by indictment with fraudulent endorsement of a United States Treasury check, theft of government money, and aggravated identity theft.  According to the allegations contained in the indictment, Thompson fraudulently endorsed and cashed a United States Treasury check that belonged to another individual.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI, TIGTA and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan.

30. United States v. Bertram Marvin White, Case No.15-60292-CR-Marra

On November 17, 2015, Bertram Marvin White, 30, of Miami, was charged by indictment with fraudulent endorsement of a United States Treasury check, theft of government money, and aggravated identity theft.  According to the allegations contained in the indictment, White fraudulently endorsed and cashed a United States Treasury check that belonged to another individual.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, TIGTA and the Miramar Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan. 

G.        STOLEN IDENTITY BENEFITS/CREDIT CARD FRAUD

31. United States v. Alexandra Fernandez, Case No. 15-20881-CR-King                                                                                                                                   

On November 13, 2015, Alexandra Fernandez, 25, of Miami, was charged in a three-count indictment with one count of unlawful use of one or more access devices, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, from approximately July 13, 2015, through July 23, 2015, Fernandez knowingly used credit card numbers belonging to another person in order to fraudulently obtain more than $1,000 worth of items. In doing so, on at least two occasions, Fernandez purposely transferred, possessed, and used, without lawful authority, the victim’s means of identification to obtain merchandise.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Aventura Police Department and ICE-HSI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne P. McNamara. 

32. United States v. Bechir Delva and Dann Kenny Delva, Case No. 15-60209-CR-Dimitrouleas

Bechir Delva, 24, and Dan Kenny Delva, 27, both of Miramar, were charged in a seven-count indictment for their participation in an identity theft scheme. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, the defendants conspired to possess debit cards and Social Security numbers issued to other persons and possessed several firearms, including an AR-15 rifle, a SIG 522 rifle and a .380 pistol, to protect the stolen items.  The indictment charges the defendants with one count of conspiracy to possess fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, and five counts of aggravated identity theft.

 Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and ICE-HSI.   The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John R. Byrne.

33. United States v. Ricardo Jean Loiseau, Case No. 15-60208-CR-Cohn                                                                                                                              

Ricardo Jean Loiseau, 27, of Hallandale Beach, was charged in a four-count indictment for his participation in an identity theft scheme. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, the defendant possessed debit cards registered to other individuals.  The indictment charges the defendant with one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices and three counts of aggravated identity theft. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and ICE-HSI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John R. Byrne.

34. United States v. Stacy A. Gaines and Nicaya T. Cooper, Case No. 15-60275-CR- Dimitrouleas

On November 5, 2015, Stacy A. Gaines, 39, and Nicaya T. Cooper, 35 both of Tamarac, were charged by criminal information for their participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme. 

According to the information, from February 2010, through July 2013, Gaines and Cooper filed, or caused to be filed, fraudulent federal tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) seeking refunds in the amount of $299,433.88.  The IRS refunded approximately $279,866.39 for those fraudulently filed tax returns.

According to the investigation, Cooper opened bank accounts at Regions Bank and gave Gaines access to those accounts to deposit the various fraudulent refunds.  Gaines filled out the fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds by hand utilizing the personal identification information (“PII”) from various individuals and mailed them into the IRS for processing.  The true taxpayers did not give Gaines or Cooper permission to file fraudulent returns on their behalf.  

The defendants are charged with participating in a wire fraud conspiracy.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, BSO and the USSS South Florida Organized Fraud Task Force (SFOTF).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia E. Shick.

35. United States v.Damian Williams, Case No. 15-20856-CR-Moreno

On November 3, 2015, Daiman Williams, 23, of North Miami Beach, was charged in a four-count indictment for his participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, on or about January 18, 2013, a state probation compliance check was performed on Williams at his residence in North Miami Beach, FL. During the compliance check of Williams’ residence, officers found a Toshiba laptop that contained a list of personal identifying information (PII). A forensic examination of the laptop revealed a series of documents containing over two thousand (2,000) pieces of PII, which included the names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth for hundreds of school teachers and medical patients. In addition, credit reports, tax returns, and other miscellaneous PII were found in the laptop.  Further investigation revealed that several of the individuals identified from the laptop had been victims of identity theft related to the fraudulent filing of their federal income tax returns.

On or about August 26, 2014, another state probation compliance check was performed on Williams’ residence.  In connection with the compliance check, law enforcement searched Williams’ phone and found a video of the defendant holding a firearm and then storing the firearm in the trunk of a white Lexus vehicle.  The vehicle was found in the driveway of Williams’ residence.  Officers opened the trunk of the vehicle and discovered the firearm, ammunition and PII for more than 50 individuals, including names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of homeowners’ insurance applications and completed income tax forms.

The indictment charges the defendant with possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, DEO, and the NMBPD.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Miesha Shonta Darrough.

36. United States v. Edward Fiol, Case No. 15-20827-CR-Graham

On October 23, 2015, Edward Fiol, 59, of Miami, was charged in a ten count indictment for his participation in a scheme to embezzle money from the Social Security Administration.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, from January 2011 through December 2013, Fiol embezzled money payable to an individual with the initials "M.F." and improperly converted the money to his own use. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the SSA-OIG.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cary O. Aronovitz.

37. United States v. Quinzella Jjovanna Romer, Case No. 15-06498-MJ-Valle                                                                                                                              

On November 18, 2015, Quinzella J. Romer, 39, of Miami, was charged by criminal complaint for her participation in possessing over 60 persons names and Social Security numbers that she unlawfully accessed while working at a health insurance company. 

According to the allegations contained in the criminal complaint, on April 8, 2014, Romer was issued a traffic citation and law enforcement determined that she had an outstanding warrant for arrest due to petit theft.  A pat down was conducted of Romer’s person and law enforcement found a Florida driver’s license in another person’s name in her jacket.  After obtaining a search warrant, law enforcement searched Romer's cell phone where they found over 20 pictures of a computer screen containing personal identifying information (PII), names and Social Security numbers of health insurance customers.  Upon further investigation, law enforcement determined that at least three of the individuals whose PII was found in Romer’s phone were victims of identity theft in 2013.

The criminal complaint charges Romer with knowingly, and with intent to defraud, possessing fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, that is names and Social Security numbers issued to other persons, and aggravated identity theft.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the Coral Springs Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cary O. Aronovitz.

38. United States v. Wilna Joseph and Maraldy Necker Jean, Case No. 15-60277-CR-Zloch

On November 6, 2015, Wilna Joseph, 36, and Maraldy Necker Jean, 39, both of Broward County, were indicted for their involvement in an identity theft conspiracy scheme involving the trafficking in, use, and possession of unauthorized debit card account numbers. 

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, between January 20 and 21, 2014, a conspirator filed fraudulent tax returns using the name and Social Security number of other individuals.  Then, on February 6, 2014, the defendants drove to a Wells Fargo Bank in Pembroke Pines and Joseph attempted to withdraw cash from the ATM using a debit card encoded with an account number belonging to one of the tax return victims.  The defendants then drove to a Citibank, located in Pembroke Pines, where Joseph made four withdrawals, totaling approximately $1,200.00, using a debit card encoded with an account number belonging to another one of the tax return victims. 

At the time of their arrest, on February 6, 2014, the defendants had in their possession seventeen unauthorized debit cards, registered in the names of other persons. 

The defendants are charged with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. 

Mr. Ferrer commends the efforts of IRS-CI, FBI, and the Pembroke Pines Police Department.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan K. Osborne.

39. United States v. Reyniel Cabrera Inurrieta, a/k/a “Anthony Smith,” a/k/a “Anthuan Smith,” Case No. 15-CR-20819-Cooke

On November 6, 2015, Reyniel Cabrera Inurrieta, 29, of Miami, was indicted for importing and attempting to possess with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, ethylone (“Molly”), into the United States from China. 

According to the allegations contained in the previously filed criminal complaint, on October 21, 2015, Inurrieta attempted to pick up two parcels that had arrived at his P.O. Box in Miami, from China which he expected contained ethylone.  At the time of his arrest, Inurrieta also possessed numerous counterfeit credit cards.

Mr. Ferrer commends the efforts of ICE-HSI, USSS, and MDPD.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan K. Osborne.

40. United States v. Marvin John Janvier, Case No. 15-20851-CR-Gayles

On November 3, 2015, Marvin John Janvier, 22, of Miami, was charged in a nine-count indictment for his participation in an identity theft tax fraud scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, between January 21, 2015 and April 25, 2015, Janvier caused to be filed over 170 fraudulent federal income tax returns, seeking refunds in excess of $100,000.

Janvier was charged with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, USSS, and NMBPD. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan.

41. United States v. Mike Patrick Guillaume, Case No.15-60288-CR-Bloom

On November 10, 2015, Mike Patrick Guillaume, 31, of Miramar, was charged by indictment for his participation in an identity theft scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, on or about December 4, 2014, the defendant possessed the Social Security numbers of at least fifteen individuals. The indictment also alleges that the defendant transferred, possessed and used the means of identification, specifically, the debit card account numbers of two individuals.

The indictment charges the defendant with use of unauthorized access devices, possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, and aggravated identity theft.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the Miramar Police Department and ICE-HSI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daya Nathan.            

42. United States v. Ronel Junior Lamour, Case No.15-20882-CR-Gayles

On November 13, 2015, Ronel Junior Lamour, 25, of Miami, was charged in a 5-count indictment for a scheme to use stolen identities to file unauthorized tax returns, setup bank accounts with debit cards in the names of the tax filers, and then have the refunds wired to those accounts.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, beginning on or about February 1, 2013, Lamour fraudulently used debit card account numbers issued to other persons to purchase United States Postal Service (USPS) money orders.  On August 13, 2014 and January 2, 2014, Lamour deposited these USPS money orders into a bank account.

On March 18, 2014, pursuant to a warrant, federal law enforcement conducted an electronic search of Lamour’s cell phone.  The search uncovered personal identifying information (“PII”) - including names, dates of birth, and social security numbers. 

The investigation further revealed that Lamour used Social Security numbers issued to other persons to file unauthorized tax returns.  

Lamour was charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, use of one or more unauthorized access devices, possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and USPIS.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Joshua S. Rothstein.

43. United States v. Sean Lyons, Case No. 15-60297-CR-Cohn                                                                                                                             

On November 17, 2015, Sean Lyons, 29, of Plantation, was charged in a five-count indictment for his participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme.

According to the allegations contained in the indictment, on May 28, 2014, Lyons possessed unauthorized prepaid debit cards registered to at least fifteen people.  The indictment also alleges that Lyons transferred, possessed, or used the means of identification of four individuals in relation to that offense. 

The indictment charges Lyons with possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the Plantation Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tonya R. Long.

If convicted of the charged conduct, the defendants face a possible maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison for possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices; 10 years in prison for trafficking in or using one or more unauthorized access devices during a one-year period and by such conduct obtaining anything of value over $1,000; 5 years in prison for theft of mail; 10 years in prison for theft of government money; 5 in prison for conspiracy to commit theft of government money; 5 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States; 20 years in prison for participating in a wire fraud conspiracy; 5 years in prison for conspiracy to pass Treasury checks bearing forged endorsements; and 2 years in prison consecutive to any other term for aggravated identity theft. 

A complaint or an indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.      

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.

Two men separately pled guilty to possession of mail that had been stolen from various condominium complexes throughout Broward County, Florida.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Ronald J. Verrochio, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, made the announcement.

Anthony Bouquette, 24, of Valdosta, Georgia, pled guilty today to two counts of possession of stolen mail, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1708 and 2.   James Mathurin, 24, of Fort Lauderdale, pled guilty on October 8, 2015 to two counts of possession of stolen mail, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1708 and 2.   Bouquette is scheduled to be sentenced on January 28, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. in front of U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch.  Mathurin will be sentenced on January 8, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. in front of U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn.  At sentencing, both defendants face up to five years imprisonment, three years supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution as to each count.

According to information contained in the court records, from February through September 2011, the defendants possessed mail that had been stolen from various apartment complexes in Broward County, including locations in Deerfield Beach, Lauderhill, Sunrise and Wilton Manors.  The defendants and other individuals possessed checks that had been made out to businesses and stolen from the condominium complex mail receptacles.  The defendants separately deposited the stolen checks into accounts at local banks and were compensated for depositing these checks.  The defendants’ unauthorized conduct caused both the check writer and the intended business recipient to sustain a financial loss.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the USPIS. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Katz.

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.

A defendant was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for arranging a fraudulent short sale of a 10-acre residential property in Southwest Ranches, Florida.  A restitution hearing is scheduled for January 22, 2015. 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), and J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.

Jaime Olaya Marroquin, a/k/a Jaime Olaya, 53, previously pled guilty to one count of bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344.  As part of his plea agreement, Olaya agreed to forfeit the 10-acre property involved in this transaction.

According to court documents, in 2005, Olaya purchased a 10-acre residential property in Southwest Ranches, Florida. In 2008, he quitclaimed ½ of the property to AJZ Investments (AJZ), a company he controlled. To avoid having to continue making payments on the $1.6 million mortgage debt, Olaya submitted a request to the bank for a short sale on the property while intentionally excluding the portion of the property he quitclaimed to AJZ.

Olaya arranged for his family member to make a written offer to purchase the property for $430,000, but he did not inform the bank that the buyer was a family member. The defendant represented to the bank that the buyer would be putting her own money into a cash purchase of the property, but in reality the buyer did not put any money into the purchase. Olaya wired the money to the U.S. from a bank in Colombia after telling the bank that he did not have sufficient assets to pay the original mortgage debt.

The bank approved the short sale of the property for $430,000, and canceled Olaya’s remaining $1.2 million debt and released the mortgages encumbering the entire 10 acres. As a result of the fraud, Olaya was successful in preventing the bank from obtaining the benefit of the approximately $421,000 value of the property that was quitclaimed to AJZ.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, ICE-HSI, and the Miami-Dade Police Department.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank H. Tamen.

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.

Man pled guilty to trafficking in counterfeit cigarettes before U.S. District Court Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Robert J. West, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Miami Field Office, and U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA/OCI), made the announcement.

On November 13, 2015, Gaurav Joseph Jayaseelan, 25, a citizen of India, pled guilty to selling and dispensing and causing the sale and dispensing of a counterfeit tobacco product, cigarettes, the labeling of which bore the trade name of Newport cigarettes, a tobacco product listed with the FDA under Title 21, United States Code, Section 387(e)(i)(1), in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 331(qq)(3) and 333(a)(2), and Title 18, United States Code, Section 2; and trafficking in 53,740 cartons of cigarettes, while knowingly using a counterfeit mark on and in connection with such cigarettes, the use of which was likely to cause confusion, cause mistake, and deceive. The counterfeit marks were false marks identical to and substantially indistinguishable from the marks of the legitimate manufacturer of Newport brand cigarettes, which were in use by and registered to the manufacturer on the principal register of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2320(a) and 2. 

Jayaseelan faces maximum statutory sentence of up to three years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and supervised release of up to three years for selling the counterfeit cigarettes. The defendant faces up to ten years in prison, a fine of up to $2,000,000, and a three year term of supervised release, for the trafficking of the cigarette cartons. The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22, 2016 at 1:15 pm.

According to the court record, including the a jointly filed factual statement, the investigation began in January 28, 2013, when a FDA/OCI undercover agent met with a third-party in Kingston, Jamaica to discuss the sale of counterfeit Marlboro brand cigarettes. Thereafter, negotiating by email, a deal to sell and ship 1,100 “master cases” of counterfeit Marlboro Reds, for a total cost of $377,300.00 was reached. To pursue the deal, agents made an initial a wire transfer in the amount of $133,190 to an account located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the purchase of the counterfeit cigarettes.

In August 2013, FDA/OCI undercover agents met with Jayaseelan, who travelled to Miami, FL from Dubai, as a representative of the producer, to discuss the pending sale.  During the recorded meeting, Jayaseelan told the agents that he and his father, Joseph Jayaseelan were in the cigarette and alcohol business in the Middle East and India.  He also claimed they owned and operated their own tobacco manufacturing plant which could manufacture any tobacco brand.

In December 2013, Jayaseelan sent an email advising they had to temporarily shut down their counterfeit Marlboro plant to avoid detection by law enforcement and offered in the interim to provide counterfeit Newport cigarettes. Subsequently, at Jayaseelan’s request, two cartons of Newport cigarettes to be used as samples for the manufacturing of the counterfeits were provided to an address in India.

In January 2014, an undercover agent was advised by Jayaseelan that the defendant would send 1,030 master cases of Newport cigarettes, for a total value of: $450,625.  Later, Jayaseelan by email advised that the counterfeit Newport cigarettes had been shipped on April 7 to Port Everglades, Florida.  The shipment was seized in Fort Lauderdale by Customs and Border Protection officers, in coordination with FDA/OCI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) agents. The counterfeit cigarettes had an estimated United States street value of more than $1 million. Jayaseelan was arrested in August 2015 when he traveled to the United States in order to secure further payment on the counterfeit cigarette deal.

“This case represents our relentless commitment to stopping international rings of counterfeiters from jeopardizing products used by American consumers,” stated U.S. Attorney Ferrer.

"A key part of FDA's mission is to protect consumers from counterfeit products -- including cigarettes -- that the agency regulates," said Robert J. West, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations' Miami Field Office. "We will continue to focus our efforts and resources on removing harmful counterfeit products from the US marketplace."

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FDA/OCI, Miami Field Office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Port Everglades Office, ICE-HSI, Fort Lauderdale Office, and Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) for their assistance in the development of the case. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.

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.

Four individuals arrested, including former Miami Dade Police Officer, for their participation in illegal bribery and kickback scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, and J.D. Patterson Jr., Director, Miami Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.

Former MDPD Police Officer Yuri Millan, 39, Oriel Ugardes, 42, and Jose Guim, 34, are charged by criminal complaint with conspiring and participating in a bribery and kickback scheme, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.  Another alleged participant in the conspiracy, former MDPD Public Service Aide (PSA) Elina Rodriguez was charged by information on October 27, 2015.  If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years imprisonment, up to 3 years supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000. 

According to the facts alleged in the complaint, Miami-Dade County has a rotational wrecker system, which is a process where certain tow truck companies enter into a contract with the county in return for being placed on a rotational wrecker list.  When there is an accident within MDPD jurisdiction, if the driver of the disabled vehicle is not able to secure their own tow truck, the responding MDPD employee is required to contact, via dispatch, the rotational tow truck company with responsibility for that geographical area. In return for that business, the rotational tow truck company pays Miami-Dade County a fee for each referred tow.

In 2013, the FBI Task Force became aware of allegations that Oriel Ugardes, the owner of O&U towing, was paying police department employees bribes in return for their assistance in enabling the defendant and his company trucks to circumvent the MDPD rotational wrecker system.  During the resulting investigation, investigators documented that Ugardes and one of his drivers, Jose Guim, would pay bribes to MDPD Officer Yuri Millan and MDPD PSA Elina Rodriguez.  In return for cash payments, rather than contact the rotational tow truck company, Millan and Rodriguez would permit O&U tow trucks to tow disabled vehicles directly from accident scenes.  Millan and Rodriguez would also use their MDPD computers to access police databases and locate accidents that were “holding,” that is, which were not yet assigned a responding officer.  Ugardes and Guim would then use this information to respond to the accident scenes before an officer or PSA arrived and solicit business directly from the stranded driver.  Once business was obtained, the disabled vehicles would be towed to body shops which themselves participated in the scheme by paying cash kickbacks based upon the anticipated repair cost of the disabled vehicle.

In addition, by May 2014, the FBI had also become aware that Millan was renting his MDPD police encrypted radio to Ugardes and Guim in return for $300 a week.  With that radio, Ugardes and Guim could intercept confidential police communications and identify accident locations.  On May 14, 2014, investigators recovered Millan’s assigned MDPD radio from Ugardes’s possession after Ugardes was seen picking the radio up at Millan’s residence.  Millan subsequently filed a false police report claiming that he had lost his encrypted radio at an unknown location.

On May 2, 2014, investigators interviewed Rodriguez and she allegedly admitted being paid bribes by Ugardes since 2009.  Rodriguez admitted being paid between $100 to $300, per accident.  Rodriguez has estimated that she personally received at least $35,000 during the course of the conspiracy.

On June 20, 2014, Millan was interviewed and provided a statement in which he allegedly admitted to taking bribes from Guim.  Millan admitted that for the five month period preceding his interview, he accepted $500 to $600 and “borrowed” and additional $2,000 to $3,000 in cash from Jose Guim.  Millan also admitted providing Guim and Ugardes his encrypted MDPD radio.                                        

“All public officials, including police officials, cannot take money kickbacks in exchange for performing, or in this case for not performing, their official duties,” stated U.S. Attorney Ferrer.  “This case, and our ongoing investigation, makes clear that corrupt activity that affects the people of this community will not be tolerated and will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Every day, thousands of dedicated, able and honorable law enforcement officers take to the streets to protect communities throughout South Florida,” said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami.  “It is on behalf of these professionals that the FBI’s Miami Area Corruption Task Force seeks to root out wrongdoing to ensure that the high standards we expect of our police are met and maintained.”

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force and the MDPD Internal Affairs Division.  To date, the FBI investigation into alleged corruption in the towing industry has resulted in sixteen police department employees and tow truck operators being charged in federal court.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Lacosta. 

A criminal complaint, information or indictment is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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.

A Miami-area pharmacy owner was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for her role in the submission of more than $1.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare Part D.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Tamara Esponda, 48, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud on Aug. 7, 2015.  In addition to imposing the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn of the Southern District of Florida ordered Esponda to pay $1,583,976 in restitution.

Esponda owned Biomax Pharmacy Inc.  According to admissions made in connection with Esponda’s guilty plea, between October 2012 and September 2013, Biomax Pharmacy submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for prescription drugs that were not prescribed by physicians, not medically necessary and not provided to Medicare beneficiaries.  Esponda further admitted that in perpetrating this fraud she and her accomplices used the beneficiaries’ and doctors’ Medicare identification numbers without their consent.  During the course of the scheme, Biomax received more than $1.5 million in payments from Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit, based on those false claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Timothy P. Loper of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged over 2,300 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for over $7 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

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.

A Miami-area pharmacy owner was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for her role in the submission of more than $1.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare Part D.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Shimon R. Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Tamara Esponda, 48, of Miami, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud on Aug. 7, 2015.  In addition to imposing the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn of the Southern District of Florida ordered Esponda to pay $1,583,976 in restitution.

Esponda owned Biomax Pharmacy Inc.  According to admissions made in connection with Esponda’s guilty plea, between October 2012 and September 2013, Biomax Pharmacy submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for prescription drugs that were not prescribed by physicians, not medically necessary and not provided to Medicare beneficiaries.  Esponda further admitted that in perpetrating this fraud she and her accomplices used the beneficiaries’ and doctors’ Medicare identification numbers without their consent.  During the course of the scheme, Biomax received more than $1.5 million in payments from Medicare Part D, the prescription drug benefit, based on those false claims.

The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida.  The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Timothy P. Loper of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged over 2,300 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for over $7 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

Two Miami residents pleaded guilty for their role in a stolen identity tax refund fraud conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo of the Justice Department’s Tax Division announced.

Jim Joseph and Roland Alexis pleaded guilty to one count of a multi-object conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), commit wire fraud and commit aggravated identity theft and one count of aggravated identity theft.  Joseph pleaded guilty on Nov. 9 and Alexis pleaded guilty Nov. 5.  According to court documents, between 2007 and July 2014, Joseph, Alexis and others conspired to defraud the United States by filing false federal income tax returns using stolen identities.  Joseph and Alexis obtained the personal identification information of actual individuals, some deceased, including names, social security numbers, addresses and dates of birth, without the individuals’ authorization.  The stolen personal identification information belonged to prisoners and deceased individuals.  Joseph, Alexis and others recruited knowing co-conspirators and unknowing victims to put Electronic Filing Identification Numbers (EFINs) in their names through which fraudulent income tax returns would be filed. 

In late 2009, Alexis formed Worldwide Income Tax Multi-Services LLC and North Miami Income Tax Services.  The companies were created with the intended purpose of filing fraudulent tax returns using stolen identities.  Worldwide Income Tax Multi-Services was located in Miramar, Florida, and listed Alexis as President and Joseph as Vice-President.  North Miami Income Tax Services was set up in Miami and listed Alexis as Registered Agent.  Joseph, Alexis and others then used the stolen identities and EFINs to electronically file more than 860 fraudulent tax returns.  Alexis’s conduct resulted in a tax loss of $1.8 million and Joseph’s conduct resulted in a tax loss of $1.2 million.                                                                                                            

Both individuals face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison and three years of supervised release for the conspiracy charge and a statutory mandatory sentence of two years in prison and one year of supervised release for the aggravated identity theft charge.  Joseph and Alexis must serve the two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft in addition to any sentence the court imposes on the conspiracy charge.  Both charges carry a statutory maximum fine of $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Ferrer and Acting Assistant Attorney General Ciraolo commended special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations, who investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Karadbil of the Southern District of Florida and Assistant Chief Gregory E. Tortella of the Tax Division, who prosecuted the case.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found on the division’s website.

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.

Following a six-day trial before United States District Court Chief Judge K. Michael Moore, a jury convicted husband and wife, Raul Sosa and Maura Sosa, of criminal tax offenses arising out of a five-year scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement. 

According to evidence presented at trial, starting in 2003, Raul and Maura Sosa owned and operated Accion 1 Auto Sales, Inc., an automobile salvage and recycling business in Hialeah.  After purchasing junked and non-functioning cars, the defendants would strip the cars, sell the usable parts and components to businesses in the secondary auto parts market, and then sell the remaining metal as scrap to a local metal recycler.  On some occasions, the defendants would resell whole cars, without stripping them.

The defendants’ fraud scheme revolved around their underreporting of Accion 1’s annual sales revenue on the businesses’ federal income tax returns.  Through this scheme, Raul and Maura Sosa depressed the net profits reported on the businesses’ returns, the income reported on their individual returns, and their federal income tax owed.

From 2004 through 2008, the Raul and Mara Sosa’s business had sales of over $28.6 million.  However, the defendants’ reported only approximately 14% of their sales, or $3.9 million, on the businesses’ federal income tax returns during that period.  As a result of the scheme the defendants failed to report at least $4.5 million in net profits from their business and defrauded the Internal Revenue Service out of over $1.6 million in federal income taxes.

Evidence introduced at trial included records and witness testimony indicating that the defendants’ spending in 2008, on automobiles, real estate, jewelry, and credit card payments exceeded the total income reported on their joint individual income tax return by at least $900,000.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by Chief Judge Moore on February 3, 2016, at 2:00 pm.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Davis and John Byrne.

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

Two individuals from the Southern District of Florida were sentenced for endorsing and cashing stolen and fraudulently obtained United States Treasury checks.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Pete Hoggins, 32, was sentenced to 61 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Hani Sobhi Alshaikh, a/k/a “Danny”, 35, was sentenced to 11 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.  The defendants were also ordered to pay joint and several restitution in the amount of $150,008.05. Hoggins and Alshaikh previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit forgery and theft of public money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.  Hoggins also pled guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.  

According to court documents, Alshaikh worked at a gas station in Pompano Beach, Florida.  On multiple occasions from December 2011 to January 2014, Hoggins brought Alshaikh stolen and fraudulently obtained Treasury checks to cash at this gas station.  Hoggins and Alshaikh forged the payees’ endorsements on the Treasury checks.  Alshaikh then deposited those checks into several different business checking accounts that he had opened at various banks in the name of his company, HSA Investment Group.

The total number of victims in the scheme was more than 50, but less than 250. The total amount of intended loss was more than $200,000 but less than $250,000.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia E. Shick.

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.

A former medical director and three therapists from defunct health provider Health Care Solutions Network Inc. (HCSN) were sentenced today in Miami for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare and Florida Medicaid more than $63 million.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Shimon Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Roger Rousseau, 73, of Miami, the former medical director of HCSN in Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola of the Southern District of Florida to 192 months in prison.  Therapist Liliana Marks, 49, of Homestead, Florida, was sentenced to 72 months in prison.  Therapists Doris Crabtree, 63, of Miami, Angela Salafia, 68, of Miami Beach, Florida, were each sentenced to 60 months in prison.  In addition to their terms of imprisonment, each defendant was sentenced to three years of supervised release.  Restitution will be determined at a hearing on Jan. 15, 2016.

On Aug. 24, 2015, following a two-week trial, the jury convicted all four defendants of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  Rousseau was additionally convicted of two counts of health care fraud.  In total, 22 defendants have been charged and convicted for their roles in the HCSN scheme, including the former owner of HCSN, Armando “Manny” Gonzalez.

According to evidence presented at trial, HCSN purported to provide intensive mental health services to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in Miami and Hendersonville, North Carolina, from approximately 2004 through 2011.  These services were not medically necessary and were often never even provided.  HCSN paid kickbacks to assisted living facility owners and operators in Miami who, in exchange, referred beneficiaries to HCSN.  In support of this scheme, Rousseau routinely signed what he knew to be fabricated and altered medical records.  Crabtree, Salafia and Marks fabricated HCSN medical records to support false and fraudulent claims for partial hospitalization program services that were not medically necessary and often never provided.  In total, HCSN submitted approximately $63.7 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, and received payments totaling approximately $28 million on those claims.

This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Allan J. Medina, Lisa H. Miller and Bryan D. Fields of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.  The case was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida. 

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged nearly 2,300 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $7 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.  

A Kendall man unlawfully possessed the components of four pipe bombs, in violation of the National Firearms Act. 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Carlos Canino, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami Dade Police Department (MDPD), David Downey, Fire Chief, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, and Joseph Steadman, Chief, State of Florida – Fire Marshal’s Office, made the announcement.

Jonathan Cristian Dittemore, 24, of Miami-Dade, was charged, by complaint, with possessing a National Firearm Act (NFA) firearm not registered to him in the National Firearm Registration and Transfer Record, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 5861(d). If convicted Dittemore faces a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.  This afternoon, Dittemore had his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry L. Garber.

According to court documents, on October 23, 2015, a Miami-Dade County sanitation vehicle exploded in the area of 10620 SW 129th Court in Miami, Florida.  An investigation into the explosion led law enforcement to Dittemore’s former residence.  Inside Dittemore’s residence, including a bedroom allegedly used by the defendant, law enforcement discovered various explosive powders and components to construct destructive devices (pipe bombs).   According to a record query, Dittemore possessed the components of the destructive devices in contravention of the requirements of the National Firearms Act. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the ATF, MDPD Arson and Bomb Disposal Units, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department and the State of Florida – Fire Marshal’s Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Kobrinski.

A complaint is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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.

A former staff mentor at the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter, a residential facility in Tavernier, Florida, was convicted today of child sex trafficking, following a three-week jury trial before United States District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, 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, made the announcement.

Ricky Jermaine Atkins, 29, of Key Largo, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to engage in the sex trafficking of minors, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1594(c), and two counts of sex trafficking of minors, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591(a)(1).  Atkins is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27, 2016.  

Atkins’ co-defendant, Sandra Simon, 24, of Homestead, previously pled guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591.  Simon’s sentencing is scheduled for November 20, 2015. 

According to evidence presented at trial, since 2011, Atkins worked overnight shifts as a staff mentor at the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter, a residential facility in Tavernier.  While working as a staff mentor, Atkins arranged for two of the minor shelter residents, girls aged fifteen and sixteen, to be brought from Tavernier to a hotel in Cutler Bay, where Simon supervised their prostitution.  On the night of August 15, 2014, Atkins personally transported the minor victims from Tavernier to an apartment in Homestead where he introduced the teenagers to several of his adult associates.  Atkins arranged for one of the minors to have sex with three of the adults to prepare her for prostitution.  Atkins then transported both minor victims to Cutler Bay, where he left them with Simon to be sold for sex.  Text messages between Simon and Atkins revealed that, on the same day that the victims were trafficked, Simon had pled guilty in state court to procuring a minor for prostitution and had been sentenced to probation.

Evidence presented at trial further established that Atkins collected money earned from the minor victims’ acts of prostitution.  Atkins also delivered to Simon a cellular phone and other items intended to facilitate the prostitution of the minor victims. 

During the trial, testimony was presented that Atkins simultaneously prostituted an 18-year-old woman he had met while she was a minor child living at the shelter.

Atkins was originally arrested by state authorities in Monroe County on September 9, 2014, and charged with interference with the custody of a minor, before being released on bond.  On December 9, 2014, a federal grand jury indicted Atkins on federal trafficking charges. 

Mr. Ferrer thanked the FBI, City of Miami Police Department, Monroe County Sherriff’s Office, Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, North Port Police Department and Miami-Dade Police Department for their work on this case.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth M. Schlessinger and Elina A. Rubin-Smith.

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.

Yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida hosted a symposium to combat cyber crimes with participation from high ranking officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Secret Service, as well as approximately eighty representatives from some of the district’s largest companies, hospitals and academic institutions.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Cyber crimes continue to evolve and pose a significant threat to our nation and the privacy and economic security of American consumers and businesses.  In order to derail and block cyber intrusions, it is imperative that businesses, companies and institutions report any suspected breach of a network system, identify and notify victims, minimize the impact of the intrusion and work with law enforcement to prevent and combat cybersecurity threats.   The mission of law enforcement is to thwart cyber attacks, protect trade secrets, safeguard valuable data and prosecute those who seek to steal from and cripple corporations, medical facilities and academic institutions.  Federal law enforcement agencies have joined forces with private entities to protect business ventures and the countless consumers, students and patients who benefit from the services offered by our nation’s industry and business leaders.    

 “The virtual theft of personal consumer data and other valuable business information is a threat to companies of all shapes and sizes,” stated U. S. Attorney Ferrer.  “By bringing together the business and law enforcement communities, we intend to foster our mutual and compelling interest in developing comprehensive and collaborative strategies to prevent and combat cyber attacks.  It is our hope that companies and businesses report intrusions and other types of cyber attacks to law enforcement so that we can continue to protect individual citizens and companies that are too often victimized by cybercrime.”

“Cyber is a vector of attack that touches every FBI program and is a means by which criminals of all sorts accomplish their aims. Through similar meetings we hope to build the kind of public and private partnerships to one day predict and prevent cyber attacks, rather than reacting after the fact,” said FBI SSA Jason Manar.  

Mr. Ferrer commended the collective efforts of the FBI, USSS, corporations, businesses, hospitals and academic institutions to combat cyber crimes.  To report a cybercrime or cybersecurity threat, please visit www.ic3.gov or contact the USSS at (305) 863-5000.  To learn more about how to protect your business and consumers from cyber threats, visit www.us-cert.gov. 

 

An owner of an unlicensed money transmitter business was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release for failing to file Currency Transaction Reports and illegally sending money to Cuba. The defendant also agreed to forfeit $480,622 in United States currency representing the funds seized in connection with the offense.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), made the announcement.

Karell Cordero, 40, of Hialeah, previously pled guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitter business, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1960. 

According to court documents, between June 2012 and May 2014, Cordero owned and operated K & Y Multiservices in Hialeah, Florida, where he received euros and exchanged them for U.S. dollars. These transactions often involved sums of tens of thousands of dollars, but Cordero did not submit Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) or other forms or reports that must be submitted to the Treasury Department. On occasion, Cordero conducted these transactions to exchange money knowing it was derived from unlawful activity. Law enforcement officers monitored two separate meetings where Cordero exchanged 240,000 euros for $326,900 in U.S. currency. Cordero was told that the money was from Mexico and came from drug dealers. Cordero did not file a CTR or any other required report on either occasion.

Another aspect of Cordero's business involved collecting money from various persons in the United States who wanted to send it to persons in Cuba. He used many of the euros he obtained from his money exchange business for this purpose. Cordero used a variety of means to transmit money to the persons for whom it was intended in Cuba, while collecting a fee for his services. Cordero knew that he was prohibited under U .S. law from sending currency from the United States to Cuba.

Cordero handled approximately $800,000 in foreign currency exchanges and transmissions of money to Cuba without filing CTRs or otherwise reporting the money to any governmental regulatory or law enforcement agencies as required by law. In addition, Cordero and his company were not licensed as a money transmitter, money service business, or foreign currency exchange.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI, IRS-CI, and the DEA.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank H. Tamen.

Six defendants have been sentenced to prison terms for their participation in a $4.7 million check cashing and identity theft scheme. 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.    

Stanley Presendieu, 33, of Lake Worth, Latasha Pharr, 29, of Davie, Scarlee Valias Jean, 25, of Smyrna, Georgia, Brian Deronceler, 32, of West Palm Beach, and Jason Miles, 34, of Plantation, were indicted in case number 15-20032-CR-GAYLES and charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344, and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.  Husein Habib, 58, of Parkland, was charged by information in case number 15-20238-CR-GAYLES.  Habib, Presendieu, Valias Jean, and Miles pled guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.  Following a jury trial, Deronceler and Pharr were convicted of all counts charged in the indictment.

On various dates, beginning on October 7, 2015, the defendants were sentenced for their participation in the fraudulent check cashing and identity theft scheme.  Presendieu was sentenced to 212 months’ incarceration; Pharr was sentenced to 259 months’ incarceration; Valias Jean was sentenced to 51 months’ incarceration; Deronceler was sentenced to 183 months’ incarceration; Miles was sentenced to 145 months’ incarceration; and Habib was sentenced to 72 months’ incarceration.

According to the court record, Presendieu, Pharr, Jean, Deronceler and Miles used stolen personal identification information to make fraudulent claims on falsified tax returns.  As a result of the unauthorized claims, the defendants fraudulently procured and cashed tax refund checks.  The defendants also obtained stolen United States Treasury checks that had been issued for tax refunds, veterans’ benefits, and disability payments.  Between March 2010 and late 2014, each of the defendants brought the illegally acquired checks and counterfeited identification documents to an accomplice, Habib, who operated a Boca Raton Kwik Stop convenience store that offered illicit check cashing services.  

Evidence introduced at trial included undercover recordings of the conspirators presenting stolen and fraudulent checks, discussing the selection of identities they would use for the counterfeit identification cards and examining the quality of the falsified documentation that they produced for use in the check cashing scheme.  The defendants and other individuals would use the stolen identities of victims throughout South Florida, including individuals in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties along with others residing outside of the Southern District of Florida, and impersonate the taxpayers on fraudulent tax returns.  The offenders would then have the refunds sent to an unauthorized address or transmitted to their illicit tax preparation companies.  On other occasions, the conspirators arranged to cash the refunds and other benefit checks that were stolen from the U.S. mail.  As a result of the fraudulent scheme, in excess of $4.7 million in stolen and fraudulent checks were cashed through the Boca Raton convenience store.  Disabled individuals and other victims were deprived of much needed funds, college financial aid benefits were compromised, and one individual was temporarily forced to relocate to a homeless shelter.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Rochlin.

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.

The Department of Justice has reached 70 settlements involving 457 hospitals in 43 states for more than $250 million related to cardiac devices that were implanted in Medicare patients in violation of Medicare coverage requirements, the Department of Justice announced today.

“The settlements announced today demonstrate the Department of Justice’s commitment to protect Medicare dollars and federal health benefits,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida.  “Guided by a panel of leading cardiologists and the review of thousands of patients’ charts, the extensive investigation behind the settlements was heavily influenced by evidence-based medicine.  In terms of the number of defendants, this is one of the largest whistleblower lawsuits in the United States and represents one of this office’s most significant recoveries to date.  Our office will continue to vigilantly protect the Medicare program from potential false billing claims.”

“While recognizing and respecting physician judgment, the department will hold accountable hospitals and health systems for procedures performed by physicians at their facilities that fail to comply with Medicare billing rules,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.  “We are confident that the settlements announced today will lead to increased compliance and result in significant savings to the Medicare program while protecting patient health.”   

An implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, is an electronic device that is implanted near and connected to the heart.  It detects and treats chaotic, extremely fast, life-threatening heart rhythms, called fibrillations, by delivering a shock to the heart, restoring the heart’s normal rhythm.  It is similar in function to an external defibrillator (often found in offices and other buildings) except that it is small enough to be implanted in a patient’s chest.  Only patients with certain clinical characteristics and risk factors qualify for an ICD covered by Medicare. 

Medicare coverage for the device, which costs approximately $25,000, is governed by a National Coverage Determination (NCD).  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services implemented the NCD based on clinical trials and the guidance and testimony of cardiologists and other health care providers, professional cardiology societies, cardiac device manufacturers and patient advocates.  The NCD provides that ICDs generally should not be implanted in patients who have recently suffered a heart attack or recently had heart bypass surgery or angioplasty.  The medical purpose of a waiting period -40 days for a heart attack and 90 days for bypass/angioplasty - is to give the heart an opportunity to improve function on its own to the point that an ICD may not be necessary.  The NCD expressly prohibits implantation of ICDs during these waiting periods, with certain exceptions.  The Department of Justice alleged that from 2003 to 2010, each of the settling hospitals implanted ICDs during the periods prohibited by the NCD.  

“Working as a team with the Department of Justice to investigate and settle false billing claims of this magnitude has resulted in substantial recoveries to Medicare and the successful enforcement of Medicare’s coverage requirements for these procedures,” said Inspector General Daniel Levinson of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

The 70 settlements, representing nearly 500 hospitals, are listed on the attached chart.  Most of the settling defendants were named in a qui tam, or whistleblower, lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act, which permits private citizens to bring lawsuits on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of the proceeds of any settlement or judgment awarded against a defendant.  The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in the Southern District of Florida by Leatrice Ford Richards, a cardiac nurse, and Thomas Schuhmann, a health care reimbursement consultant.  The whistleblowers have received more than $38 million from the settlements.  The Department of Justice is continuing to investigate additional hospitals and health systems.

The settlements were the result of a coordinated effort among the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida, the Civil Division’s Commercial Litigation Branch and HHS-OIG, Office of Investigations and Office of Counsel to the Inspector General. 

This case was prosecuted by Jeffrey W. Dickstein of the United States Attorney's Office in Miami and Amy L. Easton of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC. 

This settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation.  One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act.  Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $26.2 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $16.4 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

The claims resolved by these settlements are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability. 

 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.

Attachment (66.31 KB)

 

Four defendants sentenced for their participation in various private health care fraud schemes.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), Ian A. Moffett, Chief, Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, Rodolfo Llanes, Chief, Miami Police Department (MPD), and Sergio Velazquez, Chief, Hialeah Police Department, made the announcement.

Hendris Castillo Morales, 33, of Miami, Maite Garcia, 40, of Hialeah, Osvaldo Marin Medina, 48, of Hialeah, and Alejandro Biart, 40, of Miami, were sentenced following their respective guilty pleas for their participation in schemes to defraud privately insured health care plans located in Miami-Dade County, including Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), United Health Care (UHC), Miami-Dade County Public Schools, City of Miami, Pepsi Co., BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc., Lincoln Property Company, Macy’s Inc., Nextera Energy Inc., Radioshack Corporation, Sodexo, Inc., Southeast Frozen Foods Company LP, and other self-insured employers which offered Administrative Services Only (ASO) insurance plans to their employees.  ASO insurance plans reimbursed Cigna, BCBS, and UHS for the money paid out by the insurance companies for health benefits for their respective employees.  Therefore, the employers acted in a self-insured role, making them financially responsible for any claim payments to their employees.

The Honorable Robert N. Scola, Jr., United States District Judge, sentenced Hendris Castillo Morales to a term of 121 months’ incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release and ordered restitution in the amount of $13,853,392.  Judge Scola sentenced Maite Garcia to a term of 48 months’ incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release and ordered restitution in the amount of $13,853,392. 

The Honorable Ursula Ungaro United States District Judge, sentenced Osvaldo Medina to a term of 41 months’ incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release.  Judge Ungaro sentenced Alejandro Biart to a term of 41 months’ incarceration, followed by a three-year term of supervised release. 

These four defendants are among fifteen individuals who have pled guilty to federal health care fraud conspiracy charges in two cases, United States v. Reynaldo Castillo, et al., Case No. 15-20144-Cr-Scola, and United States v. Ernesto Castillo, et al., Case No. 15-20177-Cr-Ungaro. 

As alleged in the indictment in Case No. 15-20144-Cr-Scola, Reynaldo Castillo, Hendris Castillo Morales, Lisbet Castillo Batista, and Maite Garcia owned and controlled 30 companies based in Miami, Hialeah, Hialeah Lakes, and Doral, Florida.  These individuals used medical director staffing companies to obtain and misappropriate the names and licensing information for numerous physicians. This information was then used to submit false and fraudulent claims to the private insurance plans.

The indictment further alleges that Alejandro Biart accepted kickbacks from co-conspirators in return for referring Cigna, BCBS, and UHC beneficiaries to the medical clinics controlled by Reynaldo Castillo, Hendris Castillo Morales, Lisbet Castillo Batista, and Maite Garcia. These beneficiaries signed documents falsely and fraudulently representing that they had received medical services when, in fact, they had not received medical services. 

The indictment additionally charges Maite Garcia for her role in paying kickbacks and bribes to certain beneficiaries in order to reimburse the beneficiaries for their monthly premium payments to Cigna.

According to the indictment, Osvaldo Marin Medina, Humberto Martinez Rodriguez, Alejandro Jesus Cura, Dania Chavez, Ezequiel Severo Casas, Jose Gerardo Gonzalez, Julio Suarez, Nelson Ramos, Reinaldo Cinta Gonzalez, Rudy N. Dominguez and Duilys Martinez agreed, in exchange for a fee, to have companies be placed in their names, to open bank accounts and check cashing accounts in the names of the companies, and to cash and deposit checks received from Cigna, BCBS, and UHC.

The indictment alleges that as a result of this scheme, Reynaldo Castillo together with his co-conspirators, submitted and caused to be the submitted false and fraudulent claims to private insurance plans, including Cigna, BCBS, UHC, and ASO insurance plans managed by Cigna, BCBS, and UHC, on behalf of the medical clinics seeking approximately $125,676,324.00, as reimbursement for injection treatments, physical therapy treatments, and other medical items and services which were neither ordered by a physician nor provided to a beneficiary as claimed.  Based on these false and fraudulent claims, Cigna, BCBS, and UHC, as well as, ASO insurance plans managed by Cigna, BCBS, and UHC, paid the medical clinics approximately $13,853,392.00.

The indictment further alleges that Reynaldo Castillo, Lisbet Castillo Batista, and Hendris Castillo incorporated Investors Group of Florida Corp. to receive proceeds from the medical clinics and utilized those proceeds to purchase real estate properties. Investors Group of Florida Corp. was listed as owner of the purchased real estate properties and acted as the leasing agent.  Reynaldo Castillo was the president and registered agent of Investors Group of Florida Corp. The real properties are subject to criminal forfeiture as specified in the indictment.         

Osvaldo Marin Medina and Alejandro Biart were also charged in United States v. Ernesto Castillo, et al., Case No. 15-20017-Cr-Ungaro, together with Ernesto Castillo, 43, of Hialeah, and Danny Jacomino Bordon, 50, of Miami, for Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud and Health Care Fraud.

The indictment in Case No. 15-20017-Cr-Ungaro alleges that Ernesto Castillo, Osvaldo Marin Medina, Alejandro Biart, Danny Jacomino Bordon, and their co-conspirators submitted and caused Amazing Medical Services Inc. (Amazing) to submit claims to Cigna seeking reimbursement in the amount of approximately $1,111,183.00, which claims falsely and fraudulently represented that medical services were prescribed by a doctor and provided to Cigna beneficiaries by Amazing.  As a result of such false and fraudulent claims, Cigna made payments to Amazing in the approximate amount of $86,035.00.

The indictment further alleges that Ernesto Castillo, Osvaldo Marin Medina, Alejandro Biart caused Serenity Rehabilitation Center, Inc. (Serenity) to submit fraudulent claims to Cigna seeking reimbursement in approximately $1,806,800.00, which resulted in reimbursement payments to Serenity in the approximate amount of $252,259.00. The defendants also caused World of Rehabilitation Therapy, Inc. (World Rehab) to submit fraudulent claims to Cigna seeking reimbursement in the amount of approximately $2,245,300.00, which resulted in payments to World of Rehab from Cigna in the approximate amount of $889,151.00.      

The indictment also alleges that defendant Alejandro Biart accepted kickbacks from co-conspirators in return for referring Cigna beneficiaries to Amazing, Serenity, and World of Rehab. 

Mr. Ferrer thanked the FBI, ICE-HSI, MDPD, Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, MPD, and the Hialeah Police Department for their investigative efforts.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Clark.

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.

A Port St. Lucie resident was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release for preparing false tax returns for himself and his clients. The defendant was also ordered to pay joint and several restitution in the amount of $558,000. 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Jean Pedro Jean Baptiste, 55, previously pled guilty to two counts of filing false tax returns, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(1), and four counts of assisting in filing false tax returns, in violation of Title 26, United States Code, Section 7206(2).

According to court documents, Baptiste was a paid tax return preparer who owned and operated JP and Sons Enterprises in Delray Beach, Florida. For tax years 2008 and 2009, Baptiste prepared individual income tax returns for customers using false income and deduction figures. Baptiste claimed deductions and credits for items that he knew the taxpayers were not entitled to take including, false Schedule C items and false Earned Income Credits, Additional Child Tax Credits, and First Time Home Buyer Credits. Baptiste failed to review the tax returns in detail with his clients and then electronically filed them for the taxpayers.

Baptiste also filed false Form 1040 income tax returns for himself for tax years 2008 and 2009. The 2008 tax return falsely claimed a First Time Home Buyer Credit, and the 2009 tax return falsely claimed an Additional Child Tax Credit, an Earned Income Credit, and falsely stated Schedule C income, gross receipts and sales.  As a result, Baptiste received an inflated and unmerited tax refund payment.

The total loss to the United States is approximately $558,000.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Lineberger.

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.

An investment advisor connected to the Rothstein case was sentenced this afternoon to 30 months in prison. 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Michael Szafranski, 37, of Surfside was sentenced today in Ft. Lauderdale by United States District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas to 30 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release.  On July 29, 2015, Szafranski pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.

According to court records, including a stipulated statement of facts filed in connection with Szafranski’s guilty plea, it was discovered in 2009 that the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA) was being utilized by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Rothstein, to commit a massive Ponzi scheme stemming from the sale of fictitious confidential settlements.  Szafranski, who was a registered investment advisor, conspired with Rothstein to induce certain persons into investing money in the confidential settlements by making material misstatements and omissions.  Szafranski secretly received compensation from Rothstein and RRA while simultaneously employed by certain investors as a purportedly independent verifier of the legitimacy of the settlement transactions.   

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz, and Jeffrey N. Kaplan.

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.

A Broward County resident was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for an identity theft fraud scheme involving 734 unauthorized tax returns.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Keyiona Marvette Wright, 27, of Plantation, Florida, previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A. 

According to court documents, from March 25, 2014 to May 6, 2015, forty-six federal tax returns were filed with the IRS claiming refunds of $135,196 from an IP address in Plantation.  From September 16, 2014 to May 5, 2015, at least 688 rejected federal tax returns, claiming refunds of $733,276, were electronically transmitted to the IRS from this same IP address.  Agents confirmed that the IP address was assigned to an apartment rented by Wright.

Based on this information, agents executed a search warrant at Wright’s residence and found four notebooks containing PII, two computers (one of which had numerous Social Security numbers and other personal identification information (PII) displayed on the screen), a bag and suitcase each containing thousands of PII in paper form, multiple pre-paid/value cards and gift cards, hundreds of documents containing PII (including Department of Labor applications), and papers containing PII scattered throughout the apartment.  A forensic analysis revealed that the documents, computers, and debit/credit cards seized from Wright’s residence contained identifying or account information for over 14,000 individuals. 

Court documents also indicate that agents found a laptop computer outside Wright’s apartment that contained a video depicting the defendant counting money.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Wood.

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

A former assistant band director was sentenced today to 61 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $129,321 for his participation in an identity theft tax fraud scheme involving former Broward County students and other individuals’ personal identifying information (PII).

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Delvis Demaine Rogers, 27, of Hollywood, Florida, previously pled guilty to one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1). As part of his plea agreement, the defendant agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $129,321.

According to court documents, IRS-CI investigators noticed that 419 suspicious tax returns claiming refunds totaling $754,470 were filed from Rogers’ residential address from January 25, 2014 to April 20, 2014.  Based on this information, a search warrant was executed at Rogers’ residence and agents discovered and seized papers, notes, and documents containing thousands of PII (including names, dates of birth, and social security numbers) including PII contained in records of more than a dozen Broward County School District students, some dating back to the late 1990s and others into the late 2000s. Agents also seized numerous printed 2013 tax returns.

Agents interviewed Rogers during the execution of the search warrant and he admitted to having prepared and filed hundreds of fraudulent tax returns without the permission of the people in whose names they were filed.  Rogers further admitted that he electronically submitted the filings from his apartment. Rogers advised that he was employed as the band director at a school in Opa Locka, Florida, and that he previously was the assistant band director at a high school in Plantation, Florida.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the USSS.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brooke C. Watson and Daya Nathan.

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.

A Coral Springs resident was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release for stealing government money.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Tony Pustizzi, Chief, Coral Springs Police Department, made the announcement.

Lenord Williams, 28, previously pled guilty to one count of theft of government money, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641.

According to court documents, on August 25, 2012, probation officers conducted a planned compliance search of Williams’ residence and discovered eight United States Treasury checks, worth $41,638.40, in Williams’ nightstand in other individuals’ names. Seven of the checks were payments of tax refunds, and the other check was a monthly Social Security payment.  The defendant admitted that he has someone cash the unauthorized checks for him.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the Coral Springs Police Department.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared M. Strauss.

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.

Two Miami-Dade County residents were sentenced to prison yesterday, for their involvement in a social security fraud scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Margaret Moore-Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), made the announcement. 

Jeffrey Joseph, 26, and Rosetta Latricia Tooks, 25, both of Miami, were sentenced to 65 months and 42 months in prison, respectively, for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Social Security Administration. Upon completion of their period of incarceration, the defendants will be on supervised release for two years.  Joseph and Tooks previously pled guilty to access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029 and aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

According to court documents, Joseph and Tooks used stolen identities to file fraudulent Social Security Retirement Income Benefit (RIB) claims.  The illicit scheme resulted in the payment of $81,124.90 in fraudulent RIB claims.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of SSA-OIG.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy Abraham and Frank Maderal.

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.  

Two defendants were sentenced for their participation in a stolen identity tax refund scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Steve Steinberg, Chief, Aventura Police Department, made the announcement.

Adrian Claude Green, Jr., 24, of Miami Gardens, was sentenced on October 22, 2015 to 34 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $34,000. Aquil Emmons, 25, of Marietta, GA, was sentenced on September 22, 2015 to one year and a day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $31,600. Green and Emmons previously pled guilty to one count of using one or more unauthorized access devices to obtain goods worth $1,000 or more, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1029(a)(2) and 2, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1) and 2. 

According to court documents, from March 17, 2012 through April 12, 2012, Emmons and Green used a number of prepaid debit cards, loaded with illicit federal tax refunds and registered in the names of various individuals, to purchase a 2007 BMW and a 2009 Mercedes Benz at a car dealership in Broward County.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CI and the Aventura Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tonya R. Long.

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.

A Palm Beach County resident, wanted on charges out of the Southern District of Florida for his alleged participation in a drug trafficking conspiracy, was arrested yesterday in Arkansas. 

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Amos Rojas, Jr., United States Marshal, United States Marshals Service, Carlos Canino, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, and Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), made the announcement. 

On February 5, 2015, Samuel David Alvarado, a/k/a “Wham,” 35, of Lake Worth, and thirty-eight co-defendants were charged in a fourteen count indictment with participating in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute various narcotics, including cocaine base, heroin, and/or cocaine hydrochloride, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), and 846.  If convicted, Alvarado faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.  Alvarado allegedly fled the Southern District of Florida prior to his arrest on the indictment.  A warrant was subsequently issued for his arrest.

Following his initial appearance in the Eastern District of Arkansas, Alvarado will be returned to the Southern District of Florida to face all charges contained in the indictment.

U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the United States Marshals Service in Florida and Arkansas, ATF, FBI and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rinku Tribuiani and Robert Waters.

An indictment is only an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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

After having been convicted at trial of producing child pornography, a Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced today to 139 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release by U.S. District Court Chief Judge K. Michael Moore.    

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge George Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Patrick Killen, Jr., 22, of Hialeah, was convicted on July 13, 2015, by a Miami jury of fifteen federal charges, including: three counts of production of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(a); two counts of distribution of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2); four counts of receipt of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(2); four counts of possession of child pornography, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2252(a)(4)(B); and two counts of transmission of interstate threats, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 875(d).  Killen was acquitted of destruction of evidence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1519.

According to the court records and trial testimony, beginning at least as early as November of 2012, Killen created fraudulent social media accounts using assumed identities of teenage girls.  Killen stole photographs of minor females from Facebook, Instagram and other sources that he used in support of his falsified accounts.  Using the assumed female identities, Killen would search social media websites and engage teenage boys, generally between 11 and 14 years of age, in conversation using internet chat applications such as Kik, Skype, and Omegle.  Over the course of these conversations, some of which lasted hours and others months, Killen falsely presented himself as teenage girls.  Killen would beg, bribe, and cajole the unsuspecting boys to send him sexually explicit pictures of themselves.  In response to Killen’s fraudulent representations, hundreds of teenage boys sent Killen sexually explicit photographs and videos identified as child pornography.  When many of these young boys expressed reticence in sending additional sexually explicit photographs, Killen would blackmail them by threatening to post the previously provided material on Instagram and other social media sites.  Killen collected, catalogued, and traded the child pornography photographs and videos with other individuals around the world using peer-to-peer file sharing programs.  Killen produced, possessed, distributed and received thousands of images and video of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

“The lengthy sentence handed down today sends a message to those who use the Internet to target and extort children through sexual exploitation (“sextortion”) and pornographic offenses” stated U.S. Attorney Ferrer.  “We implore the community to protect our children by being vigilant and reporting all suspected offenses to law enforcement.”

"The conduct of Patrick Killen, Jr., is as appalling as it is inexcusable, said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami.  Taking the identities of minor females online, Killen would persuade teenage boys to send him sexually explicit photographs of themselves which Killen later used to extort these teenage boys.  Known as sextortion, online predators use this type of behavior to produce child pornography and take advantage of children through terror and manipulation.  The FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force aggressively investigates allegations of sextortion and other online offenses against children."

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and Norwood New Jersey Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robb Emery and Ben Widlanski.

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 on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

After having been convicted at trial of producing child pornography, a Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced today to 139 years in prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release by U.S. District Court Chief Judge K. Michael Moore.    

U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge George Piro for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Miami Field Office made the announcement.

Patrick Killen Jr., 22, of Hialeah, Florida, was convicted on July 13, 2015, by a Miami jury of 15 federal charges, including: three counts of production of child pornography; two counts of distribution of child pornography; four counts of receipt of child pornography; four counts of possession of child pornography; and two counts of transmission of interstate threats.  Killen was acquitted of destruction of evidence.

According to the court records and trial testimony, beginning at least as early as November of 2012, Killen created fraudulent social media accounts using assumed identities of teenage girls.  Killen stole photographs of minor females from Facebook, Instagram and other sources that he used in support of his falsified accounts.  Using the assumed female identities, Killen would search social media websites and engage teenage boys, generally between 11 and 14 years of age, in conversation using internet chat applications such as Kik, Skype and Omegle.  Over the course of these conversations, some of which lasted hours and others months, Killen falsely presented himself as teenage girls.  Killen would beg, bribe and cajole the unsuspecting boys to send him sexually explicit pictures of themselves.  In response to Killen’s fraudulent representations, hundreds of teenage boys sent Killen sexually explicit photographs and videos identified as child pornography.  When many of these young boys expressed reticence in sending additional sexually explicit photographs, Killen would blackmail them by threatening to post the previously provided material on Instagram and other social media sites.  Killen collected, catalogued and traded the child pornography photographs and videos with other individuals around the world using peer-to-peer file sharing programs.  Killen produced, possessed, distributed and received thousands of images and video of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

“The lengthy sentence handed down today sends a message to those who use the Internet to target and extort children through sexual exploitation ‘sextortion’ and pornographic offenses,” said U.S. Attorney Ferrer.  “We implore the community to protect our children by being vigilant and reporting all suspected offenses to law enforcement.”

“The conduct of Patrick Killen Jr., is as appalling as it is inexcusable,” said Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro.  “Taking the identities of minor females online, Killen would persuade teenage boys to send him sexually explicit photographs of themselves which Killen later used to extort these teenage boys.  Known as sextortion, online predators use this type of behavior to produce child pornography and take advantage of children through terror and manipulation.  The FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force aggressively investigates allegations of sextortion and other online offenses against children.”

U.S. Attorney Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and Norwood New Jersey Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robb Emery and Ben Widlanski.

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.

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.

A Plantation resident was sentenced today to 111 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for his participation in a scheme utilizing stolen identities to commit income tax, unemployment, and credit card fraud.  A restitution hearing is scheduled for January 5, 2016.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Rafiq Ahmad, Special Agent in Charge, United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations Miami Office (DOL-OIG), Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, and John E. Brooks, Chief, Sunrise Police Department, made the announcement.

Leonce V. Jeudy, 25, previously pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1), two counts of access device fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1029(a)(2) and 1029(a)(3), and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.

According to court documents, on January 7, 2015, a detective with the Sunrise Police Department initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle driven by Jeudy.  After smelling the odor of marijuana emanating from  the vehicle, the detective conducted a search of the car and found a loaded handgun, ammunition, approximately twenty credit cards in various names, new iPhones and iPads, bank records of an unrelated individual, and receipts of four Visa debit cards purchased earlier that day for approximately $2,000. 

Police officers obtained a state search warrant for Jeudy’s residence.  During the execution of the warrant, officers found more than 100 credit and debit cards in the names of various individuals, numerous documents with the personally identifying information (“PII”) of different individuals, along with various electronic devices including numerous computers, thumb drives, and cellular telephones.  The officers also recovered from an AK-47 rifle, hundreds of rounds of different caliber ammunition, butylone, ethylone (commonly known as “Mollys”), several smaller packages of powder and crack cocaine, and other drug paraphernalia.

Subsequent forensic analysis by federal law enforcement of the recovered digital devices revealed more than 8,000 sets of PII.  In addition, an analysis revealed that some of the recovered debit cards had received approximately $30,000 in fraudulent income tax refunds and were associated with fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.  Law enforcement determined that Jeudy was responsible for filing unemployment insurance benefits claims totaling $100,000.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, USSS, and the Sunrise Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Kobrinski. 

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.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch recognized 279 Justice Department employees and 33 individuals, including two people in the Southern District of Florida, with Attorney General Awards at a ceremony today in Washington DC. These annual awards recognize department employees and other individuals for their dedication to carrying out the Department of Justice’s mission.

“The individuals being honored today stand out within a department that holds all of its employees and partners to an extremely high standard of excellence,” said Attorney General Lynch.  “They have put in long hours, made immense sacrifices, and, in some cases, placed themselves in harm’s way.  They have taken on issues that once seemed intractable, and made progress on problems that once seemed impossible.  And their outstanding work is an inspiration to public servants everywhere.”

“I commend the tireless efforts of Assistant United States Attorneys Marie Villafaña and E.J. Yera to combat fraud and obtain significant financial recoveries on behalf of the defrauded companies,” said U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer for the Southern District of Florida. “I am incredibly proud of the outstanding work done by our colleagues at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

In the Southern District of Florida, Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) A. Marie Villafaña and Evelio J. (EJ) Yera were recognized with the Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention.   The Attorney General’s Award for Fraud Prevention recognizes the exceptional dedication and effort to prevent, investigate, and prosecute fraud, white collar crimes, and official corruption.  The award was presented to AUSAs Villafaña and Yera for their integral roles in Operation Sledgehammer, a six-part operation directed at staged auto accidents and chiropractic clinic fraud.  Starting with Operation Sledgehammer I in June 2011 and including the defendants charged in Operation Sledgehammer VI, 105 defendants have been charged for their participation in this automobile insurance fraud scheme.  Of those 105 defendants, 57 have been charged federally by the U.S. Attorney's Office, and 51 were convicted either by guilty plea or after trial, including 6 chiropractors, and 15 other licensed healthcare professionals, resulting in court-ordered restitution of more than $10 million to the defrauded insurance companies.  Forty-eight defendants have been charged by the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

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.

A former cargo operations manager at Miami International Airport was sentenced to 50 months in prison for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Vinicio Morales, 53, of Miami, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. 

According to the court record, in 2011, while working as an employee at Miami International Airport, Morales agreed to be paid $12,500 for his participation in a conspiracy to assist with the offloading of cocaine into the United States, from arriving international flights.   Ultimately, Morales offloaded what he believed to be five kilograms of cocaine from the cargo can of a plane that had arrived at Miami International Airport in the Southern District of Florida. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Stewart. 

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.

 

 

A former Miami-Dade Police Department officer was sentenced to 48 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez for his participation in a wire fraud scheme, arising out of the operation of a series of credit repair businesses.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and J.D. Patterson, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.

George Price, 42, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349.

According to court documents, Price and his co-conspirators participated in a scheme to provide false police reports to individuals operating credit repair businesses. A co-conspirator would provide Price with identifying information of credit business customers. Price would then create false police reports, using the customers’ identifying information. The police reports would falsely represent that the customers had reported to the Miami-Dade Police Department facts consistent with having been victims of identity theft.  Price would cause the false police reports to become official records of the Miami-Dade Police Department. A member of the conspiracy would cause the false police reports created by Price to be transmitted to credit reporting agencies in order to induce the removal of negative items from the credit histories of the alleged victims identified in the false police reports. Price created the false police reports in order to promote the success of the credit businesses and in return would receive payment from his co-conspirators.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force and MDPD Professional Compliance Bureau. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis.

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.

A former Miami Dade College (MDC) student was sentenced to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $30,967 for his involvement in a stolen identity tax refund fraud scheme involving his student financial services account.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Jonathan Joseph, of Miami-Dade County, previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1).

According to court documents, Joseph was a student at Miami Dade College.  During his time as a student, Joseph opened a bank account serviced by Higher One, Inc. (HOI), which provides financial services to colleges and universities throughout the United States, including Miami Dade College in Florida. 

Joseph and other unknown co-conspirators submitted twenty-two (22) fraudulent tax returns to the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) claiming $104,260 in tax refunds and directed these refunds be deposited into Joseph’s HOI account.  They also submitted sixteen (16) fraudulent tax returns to Treasury claiming $75,527 in tax refunds and directed these refunds be deposited into his unindicted co-conspirator's HOI account.

Joseph’s HOI account received $11,320 in fraudulently obtained tax refunds from Treasury.  From July to September 2012, Joseph’s HOI account also received over $15,000 in proceeds from stolen tax refunds from his unindicted co-conspirator's HOI account.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gera R. Peoples. 

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

Three Palm Beach County residents recently pled guilty for their participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme involving at least 790 stolen identities.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Nadine Gurley, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General (HUD-OIG), and Karen Citizen-Wilcox, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG), made the announcement.

Latonia Verdell, 40, and Kelli Witherspoon McIntosh, 39, both of Palm Beach County, (Case No. 14-CR-80158) and Starling Willis, 32, of West Palm Beach, (Case No. 15-CR-80119) have each pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1) and  conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343 and 1349.  Verdell also pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 922(g)(1); possessing fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3); theft of government property, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 641; and making a false statement to a federal government agency, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2). 

The defendants face a mandatory term of two years’ imprisonment, consecutive to any other prison term, for each of the aggravated identity theft charges, as well as a maximum statutory sentence of twenty years in prison for the conspiracy conviction.  Verdell also faces a maximum of ten years in prison for each of the theft of government money, felon in possession and unauthorized access devices convictions; and a maximum of five years in prison for the false statement conviction. 

According to court documents, Verdell, Willis and McIntosh, participated in a widespread stolen identity refund fraud scheme involving at least 790 stolen identities and personal identification information (PII).   The PII was used to file fraudulent income tax returns online, with those refunds being directed to various bank accounts created and maintained by Verdell, McIntosh and Willis, as well as to reloadable debit cards.  Identity theft victims whose personal information was used for this scheme spanned from Indian River, Highlands, St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach Counties, as well as persons outside the State of Florida.  This scheme resulted in the submission to the IRS of more than 590 fraudulent returns in the names of other persons, seeking approximately $1.5 million in fraudulent income tax refunds. 

Court documents also state that on September 1, 2010, while Verdell was receiving income from filing fraudulent income tax returns with the IRS, she received a housing assistance payment funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), while knowing she was not entitled to receive such a payment.  On September 24, 2013, Verdell submitted an application for enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also sometimes known as ‘food stamps.’ In her application, Verdell knowingly stated that her only monthly income was $715, without any other source of income, when she was in fact receiving significant income from fraudulent tax refund payments.

Court documents also state that evidence of the stolen PII, a list of bank accounts belonging to Willis, information regarding accounts which received fraudulent refunds, and a stolen .38 caliber pistol, were found in Verdell’s home during the execution of a federal search warrant.

Sentencing hearings for Verdell, McIntosh and Willis will be scheduled by United States Senior District Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the IRS-CID, HUD-OIG, and USDA-OIG.  Mr. Ferrer also thanked the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance with this investigation and law enforcement operation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.   

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.

 

 

 

 

A former uniformed police officer with the City of Miami Police Department pled guilty today to accepting bribes.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Rodolfo Llanes, Chief, City of Miami Police Department (MPD) made the announcement. 

Julio Ruiz pled guilty to violating three counts of the Hobbs Act, that is, affecting commerce by extortion under color of official right, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951(a). 

According to the court record, including documents in support of the Ruiz’s guilty plea, the defendant accepted bribes from an FBI confidential source on three occasions between April 26 and June 12, 2013.  In exchange for $1,800 cash and a cellular telephone, Ruiz misused his official position to provide the confidential source access to, and information regarding, traffic accidents located within the City of Miami Police Department.  Ruiz also inaccurately reported the disposition of the towed vehicles in the resulting City of Miami police reports. 

Julio Ruiz’s sentencing is scheduled to take place on December 22, 2015, before U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga.  Each of the three counts to which the defendant has pleaded guilty carries a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years.  The Court may order any sentence of imprisonment awarded under one count to be served concurrently or consecutively to a sentence imposed on a different count. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force and the City of Miami Police Department Internal Affairs Division.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Lacosta. 

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.

 

A Palm Beach County man pled guilty today to wire fraud and criminal contempt charges.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Troy Walker, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), made the announcement. 

 David Lee Ortiz, 39, pled guilty today to charges of telemarketing wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343; and contempt of court, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 401(3).  

Sentencing for Ortiz is scheduled for December 2, 2015, before United States District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg in Fort Pierce. At sentencing, Ortiz faces a maximum statutory sentence of twenty years in prison on the wire fraud count, and, a maximum sentence of life in prison on  the contempt of court count.  

According to statements made in court and documents filed in the case, Ortiz committed online and telemarketing fraud in the form of fraudulent foreign exchange (forex) investment scams, via internet and email, among other means. Ortiz collected from his victims approximately $420,000 through fraudulent websites and advertisements offering 10% per month returns on forex contracts and currency trades.  Ortiz represented that investor funds would be kept in individual investor accounts for his clients, but they were in fact aggregated and commingled. He invested some of the money with losing forex positions at two licensed Futures Commission Merchants.  The remainder of the money he diverted to his own personal uses. To attract investors, Ortiz established Internet websites. In July 2008, he set up “forexisgreatfor.me,” on which he falsely claimed to have over thirty years in forex trading experience, as well as that he was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  In October 2009, he also established the website “forexfuturestrader.com,” again falsely claiming to provide daily updates accessible online for individualized investor accounts, as well as promising 100% returns within 12 months.

Ortiz misappropriated at least $232,000 by, for example, using the funds for personal shopping at retail department stores, travel, resort hotels, restaurants, utility bills, personal credit cards and car payments, and by sending, or having some customers send their funds directly, to Ortiz’s wife and her business, who also did not use those funds for forex trading.  Over the period of 2008-2011, Ortiz solicited and took investment from clients, variously placing the monies in accounts he personally controlled, investing some of it in losing forex trades, and mostly spending the remainder on himself.  Ortiz concocted false account statements purporting to show the clients that they were making profits on imaginary forex contracts placed for them by Ortiz.  When customers tried to recover all or part of their monies, usually in accordance with withdrawal provisions of a written contract which Ortiz had them sign, they regularly met evasion or delay from Ortiz.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigated Ortiz, and filed a civil enforcement action against him in the Southern District of Florida in February 2011. The CFTC sought Court orders directing rescission of the investment contracts and return to the investors of all their monies.  Chief United States District Judge K. Michael Moore signed a permanent injunction against Ortiz on June 30, 2011, directing Ortiz to return the investors’ money and rescind all the investment contracts. The injunction also forbade Ortiz from soliciting or accepting funds from any future investors.

During July and August 2011, Ortiz nonetheless continued to solicit and accept funds from investors. In particular, he met with and took $2,800 from a retired Air Force employee living in Odessa, Texas.  Twice in September 2011, Ortiz emailed to that investor false account statements purporting to show gains and profits from forex trades. The CFTC filed a motion for civil contempt against Ortiz for his failure to abide by the permanent injunction entered by Chief Judge Moore in the civil case.  On June 4, 2012, Chief Judge Moore held an evidentiary hearing on the civil contempt motion, at which Ortiz appeared pro se.  Following the hearing, the CFTC filed a joint proposed agreed order (which the Court approved and entered on June 6, 2012) setting forth a timetable for Ortiz to submit a sworn accounting and repayment of monies, no later than August 6, 2012.  On August 6, 2012, Ortiz filed a document with the Court, stating that he had received the $2800 from the Texas investor, but that Ortiz was unable to comply and pay any monies to the aggrieved investors.  

A federal grand jury sitting in Fort Pierce, Florida, indicted Ortiz on February 19, 2015, charging him with three counts of wire fraud and one count of criminal contempt of court for his actions.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the CFTC, FDLE, FBI, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.   

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.

 

 

 

Clinical Director and Therapist Also Plead Guilty

An owner, a clinical director, and a therapist pleaded guilty today for their roles in a health care fraud scheme involving three Miami-based mental health centers.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Division and Special Agent in Charge Shimon Richmond of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s (HHS-OIG) Miami Regional Office made the announcement.

Santiago Borges, 51, Erik Alonso, 45, and Cristina Alonso, 43, all of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro of the Southern District of Florida.  Borges pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay health care kickbacks.  Erik Alonso pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to make false statements relating to health care matters.  Cristina Alonso pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to make false statements relating to health care matters.

Borges owned the now-defunct mental health centers R&S Community Mental Health Inc. (R&S) and St. Theresa Community Mental Health Center Inc. (St. Theresa), and was an investor in New Day Community Mental Health Center LLC (New Day).  Erik Alonso was the clinical director of all three centers.  Cristina Alonso was a therapist at R&S.

R&S, St. Theresa and New Day were community mental health clinics that purported to provide intensive mental health services to Medicare beneficiaries in Miami.  In connection with their guilty pleas, the defendants admitted that, from 2008 through 2010, the clinics billed Medicare for costly partial hospitalization program (PHP) services that were not medically necessary or not provided to patients.  Borges admitted that he paid kickbacks to patient recruiters who, in exchange, referred beneficiaries to the centers.  Erik Alonso admitted that he oversaw the preparation of false patient records.  Cristina Alonso admitted that she fabricated patient records, including group therapy session notes that were used to support claims for reimbursement from Medicare.

According Borges’ plea agreement, between January 2008 and December 2010, the centers submitted more than $70 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare.  Medicare paid approximately $28 million on those claims.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, under the supervision of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida.  This case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney A. Brendan Stewart of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.

Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged over 2,300 defendants who collectively have billed the Medicare program for over $7 billion.  In addition, the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-OIG, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.

To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to: www.stopmedicarefraud.gov. 

Borges Plea Agreement

Borges Factual Basis

Cristina Alonso Indictment

Cristina Alonso Factual Basis

Two Miami-Dade County residents were sentenced to prison terms for their participation in a stolen identity tax fraud scheme based on information discovered while they were boarding a flight at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Scott Israel, Sheriff, Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), made the announcement.

Phillip Collins, 29, of Miami Gardens, was sentenced to 25 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Godfrey Teekah, Jr., 28, also of Miami Gardens, was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Both defendants were also ordered to pay restitution.  Collins and Teekah previously pled guilty to one count of possession of fifteen or more unauthorized access devices, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(3) and 2, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A(a)(1) and 2. 

According to court documents, the defendants were stopped while attempting to board a flight at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in February 2013. Teekah was found in possession of nine debit cards embossed with names other than his own and $4,365 in U.S. currency.  Collins was in possession of a debit card in someone else’s name.  Two computers were also found in the defendants’ possession.  A search of Teekah’s computer revealed photographs of handwritten notes containing personal identification information (PII), IRS employer identification numbers, and IRS website access logs.  A search of Collins’ computer revealed temporary internet files for “get my prepaid card,” “irs.gov” and “gfx-prepaid-cards.”  A search of Teekah’s bag revealed three additional debit cards, along with manila envelopes containing hundreds of individuals’ PII including names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers.  In total, the defendants unlawfully possessed PII belonging to over three hundred individuals.   Both Teekah and Collins were aware that false tax returns would be filed using the PII and that the debit cards were used to obtain the fraudulent tax refunds. 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the BSO.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Katz.

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.

A former Vice President of TD Bank pled guilty today for his involvement in a wire fraud conspiracy connected to the Rothstein matter.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement. 

Frank Spinosa, 54, of Ft. Lauderdale pled guilty before U. S. District Judge Beth Bloom, in Miami, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.  At his sentencing, scheduled for December 18, 2015, at 9:00 a.m., the defendant faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to five years in prison. 

In 2009, it was discovered that the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, P.A. (RRA) was being utilized by its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Scott W. Rothstein, to commit a massive Ponzi scheme stemming from the sale of fictitious confidential settlements.  In a written factual stipulation filed in connection with his guilty plea, Spinosa, who, at the time, was a Regional Vice President with TD Bank, admitted that he conspired with Rothstein to induce certain persons into investing money in the confidential settlements through material misstatements by defendant Spinosa.  Specifically, Spinosa admitted that he and Rothstein agreed to utilize the prestige and legitimacy of TD Bank, and Spinosa’s position as Regional Vice President, to give investors in the scheme a false sense of security and induce them into investing in the confidential settlements by fraudulently creating a document that made it appear that certain investment funds were being held in a restricted account at TD Bank when, in fact, they were not.   

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI and the FBI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lawrence D. LaVecchio, Paul F. Schwartz, and Jeffrey N. Kaplan.

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.

 

Benoit Placide, a/k/a “Snow,” a/k/a “Mario,” 26, of West Palm Beach, was sentenced to 120 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay joint and several restitution in the amount of $742,955 for his role in a massive identity theft tax refund fraud scheme.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sherriff’s Office, and Amos Rojas, Jr., United States Marshals, United States Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force, made the announcement.

After a ten day trial, Placide and co-defendant Lukner Blanc, 31, of Royal Palm Beach, were each convicted of conspiracy to receive, conceal or retain monies stolen from the United States, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  Blanc was also convicted of receiving, concealing and retaining monies stolen from the United States.  The defendants were remanded into custody, following their conviction. Blanc is scheduled to be sentenced on October 22, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Daniel T. K. Hurley.

At trial, the government presented evidence that the federal investigation began with the arrest of Blanc, on October 29, 2012, for an unrelated state crime. Agents recovered four bank debit cards out of Blanc’s pants pocket, all in the names of other persons.  While incarcerated in the state case, Blanc made recorded calls from the Palm Beach County Jail.  Based on information obtained during the course of the monitored and recorded jail calls, law enforcement officials obtained a state search warrant for the residence of co-conspirator Jean Juste, a/k/a “Junior,” a/k/a “Shorty,” 24, of West Palm Beach.  Inside Juste’s residence, agents discovered items used to facilitate identity theft crimes, including computers, more than sixty-nine Western Union debit cards, lists of employers, and the names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth of various individuals.  During the course of the investigation, law enforcement learned that Blanc and Juste were associates in the identity theft fraud scheme, alongside co-conspirator Placide.

During the course of the identity theft fraud scheme investigation federal agents obtained additional warrants to search the computers recovered from Juste’s residence.  Forensic examinations of the computers revealed that more than 1,000 fraudulent federal personal income tax returns had been filed using the operating system.  The returns were submitted over the internet to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) using TaxHawk.com and TurboTax.  The actual taxpayers had filed or authorized the filing of the fraudulent income tax returns.  Co-conspirators of the fraud scheme opened bank accounts in Florida, in order receive the fraudulently obtained federal income tax refunds.

The co-conspirators attempted to obtain more than $1,200,000 in unauthorized income tax refunds.  The co-conspirators received more than $700,000 in fraudulent tax refund payments, which were sent to bank accounts and pre-paid debit cards they controlled.  After the fraudulent refunds were sent by wire transfer to the bank accounts and debit cards, the defendants and their co-conspirators withdrew the funds at automatic teller machines (ATMs) and point of sale electronic terminals at various retail establishments.

Co-conspirator Jean Juste previously pled guilty to conspiracy, theft of government funds, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  On February 17, 2015, Juste was sentenced to 84 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $668,947 for his participation in the conspiracy.

Co-conspirator Shelda Phadael, 28, of Lake Worth, previously pled guilty to conspiracy and theft of government funds.  On May 29, 2015, Phadel was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $13,327.

Co-Conspirators Marie Claude, 25, of Lantana, and Marie Demesyeux, 29, of Lake Worth, previously pled guilty. On April 16, 2015, both defendants were sentenced to time served.

Co-conspirator Frank Fleuzinord, 29, of Cape Coral, is a fugitive.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, the United States Marshals Service Regional Fugitive Task Force, and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Carlton.

 

A former youth pastor was charged with enticing a minor over the internet, to engage in sexual activity.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and William Snyder, Sheriff, Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), made the announcement.

Jeffrey Brian Mobley, 24 of Ocala, formerly of Stuart, Florida was charged by criminal complaint with using a facility or means of interstate commerce to persuade, induce, or entice an individual under the age of 18 to engage in sexual activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2422(b).  If convicted, Mobley faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years up to life in prison.  If convicted, Mobley also faces up to a lifetime of supervised release and the requirement that he register as a sex offender.

Mobley had his initial appearance today and was ordered to be held in custody pending a detention hearing and preliminary examination on October 7, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Philip R. Lammens in Ocala.

According to allegations contained in the criminal complaint, in September 2015, a suspicious conduct report was made to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office concerning a youth pastor, Jeffrey Brian Mobley, and a minor who was under his trust and care through a religious based youth program in Stuart, Florida.  During the course of the investigation law enforcement learned that the defendant, while the youth pastor, had allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with two minors in the church’s youth program.  The defendant allegedly enticed the minors to engage in sexual activity and exchange sexually explicit images. 

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.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and Martin County Sheriff’s Office for their work on this case.  Mr. Ferrer also thanked the members of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida for their assistance with this matter.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carmen Lineberger.

A criminal complaint is only an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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.

 

A Riviera Beach man was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Carlos Canino, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, Stephen J. Stepp, Chief, Palm Beach Gardens Police Department (PBGPD) and Ric Bradshaw, Sheriff, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), made the announcement.

Joseph McDonald, 36, of Riviera Beach, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks to 240 months (20 years) in federal prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for being an armed career criminal in possession of a firearm.

According to evidence presented at trial, McDonald fled from the police on two separate occasions during the course of stolen vehicle investigations.  On July 28, 2013, McDonald dropped a fully loaded 9 mm semi-automatic pistol during his flight from members of the Palm Beach Gardens Police Department.  Then, on December 17, 2013, deputies with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office recovered a fully semi-automatic pistol from McDonald’s flight path.  A forensic examination report confirmed that the firearm that was recovered on December 17, 2013 had been used in a Jupiter, Florida shooting the preceding day.  McDonald had previously been convicted of numerous felonies and was thereby prohibited from possessing a firearm.

McDonald was sentenced under the Armed Career Criminal Act, which provides a mandatory sentencing range of fifteen years to life for individuals who have been convicted of a federal gun offense and have at least three prior qualifying felony convictions for crimes of violence and/or serious drug offenses.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).  PSN is a Department of Justice nationwide initiative that combines traditional law enforcement activities with community-based support and intervention programs. The two primary goals of the PSN initiative are to reduce and prevent violent crimes and to help past offenders adjust and re-enter the community.  This program emphasizes and facilitates cooperative federal, state and local prosecution of firearm crimes, violent criminals, repeat violent offenders and gang related criminal activity.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ATF, PBGPD and PBSO.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandy Galler and Daniel Funk.

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

A Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced to 44 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for his participation in an identity theft tax fraud scheme using deceased and other individuals' personal identifying information (PII).      

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, and J. Scott Dennis, Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department (NMBPD), made the announcement.      

Joshua Chikudo, 40, previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, and one count of aggravated identity theft, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1028A.   

Co-defendant Curtis Joseph, a/k/a "CJ," 36, of Miami-Dade, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy. Sentencing for defendant Joseph is scheduled for October 6, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. before Judge Beth Bloom.            

According to court documents, Joseph met with an IRS confidential informant (CI) and discussed a scheme to cash tax refund checks involving PII stolen from a medical clinic. The CI introduced Joseph to an undercover IRS agent.  During three separate meetings, Joseph gave the undercover agent a total of thirteen tax refund checks for the undercover agent to cash. In exchange, the undercover agent gave Joseph approximately sixty-five percent (65%) of the check amounts as payment for his participation in the illicit scheme.   

Court documents also state that at another meeting, the undercover agent provided Joseph with five IRS-controlled identities, consisting of fictitious PII - names, social security numbers, and dates of birth - to be used by a tax preparer in order to file fraudulent federal tax returns.  During a separate meeting, the undercover agent gave Chikudo seven additional IRS-controlled identities that Chikudo intended to include in fraudulent tax return filings.  Chikudo asked the undercover agent if he could obtain a business bank account for the purpose of depositing the fraudulent tax refunds into that account to avoid detection.  The defendants and the undercover agent agreed that they would split all of the tax refunds equally amongst themselves and a fictitious undercover partner.  The undercover agent provided Chikudo with IRS-controlled bank account information to be included on the fraudulent tax returns.  The defendants caused six fraudulent federal income tax returns to be filed.  The majority of the filings designated the IRS-controlled bank account as the intended recipient of the fraudulent refunds.          

Furthermore, court documents state that between April and August of 2013, the defendants filed thirty-two fraudulent federal income tax returns using eleven IRS-controlled identities, to request refunds totaling $197,688.  Twenty-one of the returns were joint returns that included the PII of deceased individuals.       

During the sentencing, Judge Bloom specifically referenced that back in 2007, Chikudo and been previously enjoined in a $1 million civil action initiated by the IRS for filing fraudulent tax returns claiming fuel tax credits and telephone excise tax credits on behalf of his clients that they were not entitled to claim.   The resulting injunction order entered by United States District Court Judge James I. Cohn barred Chikudo from acting as a return preparer, preparing or filing federal tax returns, assisting taxpayers in understating their tax liabilities or evading taxes, and engaging in other conduct that interfered with the administration or enforcement of the internal revenue laws.                 

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI, ICE-HSI and NMBPD. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia E. Shick

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.

 

 

 

A Miami-Dade County resident was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for filing false refund claims with the Internal Revenue Service.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the announcement.

Mavys Galvez, 32, of Miami, Florida, previously pled guilty to one count of making a false, fictitious, and fraudulent claim against the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 287.

According to court documents, Galvez filed false 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 amended federal income tax returns with the IRS claiming fraudulent refunds. In the returns, Galvez falsely asserted that she and her husband were owed millions of dollars in income from various entities, and that those entities had withheld the money as federal income tax paid to the IRS.  In fact, the entities owed no such income to Galvez or her husband, and withheld no such taxes on their behalf.  Specifically, Galvez filed a 2006 amended tax return with her husband claiming a tax refund of $1,049,270 based in large part on claimed income and $810,224 of tax withheld by a bank.  The tax return also attached a Form 1099-OID purportedly from the bank reflecting those totals, as well as 1099-OID forms from other entities. The filed 1099-OID forms were false.

Court documents indicate that Galvez had previously filed legitimate tax returns for tax years 2006 through 2009, knew that she and her husband had not received the income from the various entities reported on the fraudulent returns, knew that the taxes claimed had not been withheld, and knew that the 1099-OID forms were false.  The total amount of fraudulent refunds claimed by Galvez for tax years 2006 through 2009 is $3,424,834.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of IRS-CI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. Gonsoulin.

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.

Four Miami-Dade residents were sentenced to terms of imprisonment for their participation in a fraud conspiracy that involved the unauthorized use of credit card numbers that had been skimmed at local establishments.

Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Robert C. Hutchinson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

Jordy Hechavarria Morales, 21, Yoandy Hechavarria Morales, 29, Christian Vinent, 23, and Addel Fernandez Camejo, 31, all of Miami-Dade, previously pled guilty for their involvement in a conspiracy to commit credit card fraud.  Camejo and Vinenta also pled guilty to aggravated identity theft.  Jordy Morales also plead guilty to possessing fifteen or more counterfeit credit cards, using counterfeit credit cards, and using counterfeit credit cards to obtain goods valued at $1,000 or more.  In addition, Jordy Morales was convicted, following a bench trial, of aggravated identity theft.  Yoandy Morales also pled guilty to possessing fifteen or more counterfeit credit cards, three counts of using counterfeit credit cards, and using counterfeit credit cards to obtain goods valued at $1,000 or more.  In addition, Yoandy Morales was convicted, following a bench trial, of three counts of aggravated identity theft.

The Honorable Judge Kenneth A. Marra sentenced each of the defendants to a term of incarceration, to be followed by two years of supervised release.  Camejo was sentenced to 36 months; Vinent was sentenced to 38 months; Jordy Morales was sentenced to 40 months; and Yoandy Morales was sentenced to 48 months, in prison.

According to court documents, on March 24, 2015, officers with the Tequesta Police Department stopped a car that was occupied by Jordy Morales, Yoandy Morales, Vinent and Camejo.  During a search of the vehicle, officers discovered 143 credit cards, each embossed with a defendant’s name or alias.  Officers also found counterfeit Florida driver’s licenses embossed with Vinent and Yoandy Morales’ aliases.    Each of the discovered credit cards was found to be counterfeit and included unauthorized credit card numbers.  During the subsequent investigation, agents uncovered evidence that the conspirators had used additional unauthorized credit cards during the course of the conspiracy.  In total, the defendants were engaged in a conspiracy involving 173 counterfeit and unauthorized credit cards.

The unauthorized credit card numbers used during the course of the conspiracy actually belonged to Palm Beach County residents.  These credit card account numbers were unlawfully obtained through the use of “skimmers” at gas stations in Palm Beach County.  The stolen credit card numbers were then used to manufacture counterfeit credit cards which were encoded and embossed with the account number and a conspirator’s name, to make it appear as if the defendant was the actual account holder.  The defendants, who are residents of Miami-Dade County, traveled together to Palm Beach County and used the counterfeit credit cards to purchase and attempt to purchase Visa, MasterCard, and American Express gift cards from Palm Beach County merchants.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of ICE-HSI and the Village of Tequesta Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Evans.

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.