Date: 07-25-2024

Case Style:

United States of America v. Hector Garcia

Case Number: 1:22-cr-10337

Judge: Denise J. Casper

Court: The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Suffolk County)

Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office in Boston

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

Boston, Massachusetts criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with Fraud Involving Small Business Administration Disaster Funds
Florida Man Sentenced for Fraud Involving Small Business Administration Disaster Funds

Hector Garcia, 52, of Ocala, Fla. 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.

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 prosecuted 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.

Outcome:

Defendant was found guilty and sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release. Garcia was also ordered to pay $25,104.33 in restitution to the Small Business Administration.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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