Florida Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud Involving Small Business Administration Disaster Funds (Press Release)

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, dated Friday, April 26, 2024, announcing that Hector Garcia of Ocala, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud over SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans obtained with stolen identities. It states that Garcia conspired with Ramon Cruz, Darwyn Joseph, Edwin Acevedo and others, and that over $452,000 in SBA funds were fraudulently obtained, approximately $250,000 of which bought iPhones in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The release states that Cruz, Joseph and Acevedo pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison terms. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper scheduled sentencing for July 24, 2024.

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PRESS RELEASE



Florida Man Pleads Guilty to
Fraud Involving Small Business
Administration Disaster Funds
Friday, April 26, 2024


For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts


Defendant conspired to obtain over $452,000 in fraudulent SBA
funds
BOSTON – A Florida man pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Boston to
conspiring to use stolen identities to fraudulently obtain disaster loans from the Small
Business Administration (SBA) and to launder the funds.

Hector Garcia, 52, of Ocala, Fla., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit
wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper
scheduled sentencing for July 24, 2024.

Garcia conspired with Ramon Cruz, Darwyn Joseph, Edwin Acevedo, and others, to use
stolen identity information of United States citizens to apply for SBA Economic Injury
Disaster Loans. Garcia used stolen identity information of a United States citizen to open
a fraudulent bank account, which was then linked to other fraudulent bank accounts set
up to receive the SBA funds. Garcia and his co-conspirators used debit cards associated
with those accounts to launder the funds by purchasing iPhones for re-sale. Garcia and
other co-conspirators wired a portion of the funds to the Dominican Republic.

Over $452,000 in SBA funds were fraudulently obtained in connection with the scheme.
Approximately $250,000 of this money was used to purchase iPhones in Massachusetts
and New Hampshire.

Cruz and Joseph pleaded guilty and were each sentenced in August 2023 and October
2023, respectively, to two years and one day in prison and three years of supervised
release. Acevedo pleaded guilty and was sentenced in August 2023 to 33 months in
prison and three years of supervised release.

The charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud each provide for a
sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up
to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, as well as restitution.
Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in
Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement
today. Valuable assistance was also provided by Homeland Security Investigations in
Orlando, Fla.; Small Business Administration, Office of the Inspector General;
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General; Social
Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General; Department of Labor, Office of
the Inspector General; Department of State; U.S. Postal Inspection Service;
Massachusetts State Police; New Hampshire State Police; and the Acton, Nashua (N.H.),
Manchester (N.H.) and Ocala (Fla.) Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elianna J.
Nuzum and Adam W. Deitch of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

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

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

Updated April 26, 2024

Topics
CORONAVIRUS
FINANCIAL FRAUD


Component
USAO - Massachusetts


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