Couple Indicted and Arrested for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Fraud and Money Laundering

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico, dated March 24, 2022, announcing that on March 23, 2022 a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and his consensual partner Olga Rivera-Dávila with conspiracy to commit mail, wire and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering tied to unemployment insurance and PUA funds. According to the indictment, the defendants used other people's names and social security numbers to obtain the funds, then altered the checks to list their own names. In a separate indictment, Gallardo-Álvarez is charged with submitting false immigration documentation, mail fraud, misuse of social security numbers and aggravated identity theft.

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                                     Department of Justice
                                       U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                       District of Puerto Rico


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    Thursday, March 24, 2022

 Couple Indicted and Arrested for Pandemic Unemployment
          Assistance Fraud and Money Laundering
SAN JUAN, P.R. – On March 23, 2022, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico
returned an indictment charging Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and his consensual partner Olga
Rivera-Dávila with a conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and
money laundering violations related to fraudulently obtained funds from the Unemployment
Insurance (UI) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, announced W. Stephen
Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The case was investigated by Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the United States
Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), U.S. Postal Inspector Service, Social
Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), the Puerto Rico Department of
Labor (PRDL), and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB).

According to the indictment, Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez and Olga Rivera-Dávila devised a
conspiracy and scheme to defraud the United States and Puerto Rico’s state-federal Unemployment
Insurance programs and financial institutions to obtain money for personal gain by making
materially false and fraudulent representations to obtain and deposit UI/PUA funds. The defendants
used the social security numbers and names of others to fraudulently obtain UI/PUA funds and then
proceeded to alter the fraudulently obtained checks to list the defendant’s own names and personal
identifying information. These falsified checks were then deposited into multiple accounts under the
defendants’ control. The defendants also concealed the proceeds of the fraud scheme and structured
subsequent financial transactions.

In a separate indictment, Fernando Gallardo-Álvarez is charged with fraudulently submitting false
immigration documentation, mail fraud, misuse of social security numbers, and aggravated identity
theft.

From approximately 2017 through August 2021, defendant Gallardo-Álvarez unlawfully enriched
himself and obtained money from individuals, by preparing and filing Violence Against Woman Act
(VAWA) petitions with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) containing
false information using Form I-360 and accompanying forms for work authorization and fee waivers.
Form I-360 is used by battered spouses, children, and parents to file an immigrant visa petition
under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the VAWA.

According to the indictment, Gallardo-Álvarez made false representations to non-citizens that he was
an attorney and collected thousands of dollars for legal services to assist them in resolving their
immigration status. After collecting payment, Gallardo-Álvarez would file VAWA petitions
containing false and incomplete information without the petitioners’ knowledge and consent.
Gallardo-Álvarez knew the petitions he submitted to the USCIS contained false information and that
he could not provide the needed documentation for the USCIS to adjudicate the petitions filed.

When USCIS did not receive enough information to fully adjudicate a VAWA petition utilizing Form
I-360 submitted by the defendant, USCIS would ask Gallardo-Álvarez, for more information before
ultimately denying the VAWA petition. While the VAWA petition was pending, USCIS would make a
preliminary determination regarding eligibility for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD
card), i.e., work authorization.

The EAD cards obtained by Gallardo-Álvarez for his clients were only valid for one year and many
petitioners returned to him before the year was over to refile their petitions. Gallardo-Álvarez would
charge these petitioners thousands of U.S. dollars to submit Form I-360s and associated
immigration applications.

USCIS records suggest that Gallardo-Álvarez has filed at least 136 fraudulent I-360 VAWA
applications for over 100 petitioners within the last four years.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) Victor Acevedo and Manuel Muñiz Lorenzi are in charge of the
prosecution of the PUA fraud case. If convicted, the defendants are facing up to 30 years in prison for
bank fraud, 20 years for mail and wire fraud, and a mandatory consecutive term of two years in
prison for aggravated identity theft.

AUSAs Daynelle Álvarez-Lora and Daniel Olinghouse are in charge of the prosecution of the
immigration fraud case. Gallardo-Álvarez is also facing up to 20 years in prison for mail fraud, up to
10 years for misuse of visa, up to five years for misuse of Social Security number, and a mandatory
consecutive two-year term of prison for aggravated identity theft.

To report a COVID-19-related fraud scheme or suspicious activity, contact the National Center for
Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by calling the NCDF Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web
Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

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

                                                 ###
Topic(s):                                              Immigration
Coronavirus
Financial Fraud                                        Component(s):
Identity Theft                                         USAO - Puerto Rico


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