A 69-year-old Florida man has pleaded responsible to stealing cash from hundreds of individuals and companies by utilizing fraudulent checks to make unauthorized withdrawals from their financial institution accounts.
Eri Guzman Ortiz, previously of Miami-Dade County, admitted to at least one depend of wire fraud after investigators say he created and deposited roughly $14 million in bogus checks by accounts belonging to sham corporations.
In line with court docket paperwork, Ortiz acquired lists from a consumer in Canada containing hundreds of people and companies that had been supposedly clients of the pretend corporations.
The companies and people had by no means made the purchases described on the lists and had not agreed to have cash withdrawn from their accounts.
Prosecutors say Ortiz however used the knowledge to generate fraudulent checks and deposit them into financial institution accounts managed by the sham corporations. The transactions had been structured to make the unauthorized withdrawals seem professional.
Says U.S. Legal professional Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida,
“Eri Guzman Ortiz used fraudulent checks totaling roughly $14 million to succeed in into the financial institution accounts of hundreds of individuals and companies who by no means licensed the transactions. He created sham corporations and fabricated transactions to make systematic theft look professional. This responsible plea displays our dedication, alongside the Fraud Part, USPIS, and FDIC-OIG, to guard the integrity of our monetary system and maintain subtle fraudsters accountable.”
Ortiz pleaded responsible to at least one depend of wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. fifth.
He faces a most sentence of 20 years in federal jail. A federal choose will decide the ultimate punishment after contemplating federal sentencing pointers and different statutory components.