The money “invested” by the municipality of Mayagüez was initially destined for the Trauma Center of the Sultana del Oeste Medical Center, federal prosecutor W. Stephen Muldrow confirmed on Wednesday.
“The accusation and the information I gave clearly reflect that the victim was Mayagüez, the people of Mayagüez. The fact that they decided to give $ 9 million for investments is explained in the indictment, “Muldrow told reporters.
Was it for the Trauma Center?Muldrow was asked.
“Yes,” the federal prosecutor replied.
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A grand federal jury in the Puerto Rico district has issued a formal indictment accusing seven people of thirty-three of charges of bank fraud and money laundering. W. Stephen Muldrow, federal prosecutor for the district of Puerto Rico, and Tyler Hatcher, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue, Criminal Investigation Service (IRS-CI), the Miami office, and Rafael Riviere Vázquez, special agent in charge of the FBI, made the announcement. .
“The defendants in this conspiracy were entrusted with investing public money for the benefit of the municipality of Mayagüez and the western area, but instead used some of it for personal gain and expenditure, deceiving the government,” Muldrow said in written statements. “We will continue to focus on these types of fraud schemes and work with our law enforcement partners to bring the accused to justice,” he added.
Acting Special Agent Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation Miami Field Office, said: “People in a position of trust who use public money to commit fraud for personal enrichment betray the trust of the citizens they should serve. . These funds were intended to improve the quality of life of the citizens of a region of Puerto Rico, and this fraud will not go unpunished. We are all responsible for enforcing the law, regardless of our position of influence. The IRS criminal investigation, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue our collective efforts to enforce the law and build public trust. ”
The indictment alleges that from March 2016 to June 2018, defendants Eugenio García Jiménez, alias “Gino”; Stephen Kirkland, also known as “Steve”; Steve Minger; Alejandro Riera Fernández; Joseph Kirkland; Arnaldo Irizarry Irizarry; and Roberto Mejill Tellado orchestrated a Mayagüez and Mayagüez Economic Development Inc. fraud scheme. (hereinafter referred to as “MEDI”) of the Mayagüez money, by misrepresenting the total of $ 9,000,000 in capital belonging to the Mayagüez municipality and entrusted to MEDI for investment, was in fact invested and returned a significant rate of return. MEDI is a national for-profit public corporation created to promote the economic development of Mayagüez and the western region of Puerto Rico, generating jobs, supporting infrastructure projects and improving the quality of life of citizens.
The defendants transferred, distributed and spent the money in ways inconsistent with the statements made to the municipality of Mayagüez and MEDI regarding the investment of money, to include purchases of: a marine vessel, jewelry, clothing, school fees, restaurants, public services, credit card, payments and decoration of housing, as well as real estate improvements (swimming pools, for example) and the payment of housing mortgages.
Using several ghost entities and financial accounts, the defendants collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Municipality of Mayagüez, allocated for investments, which the defendants then used for personal expenses and the purchase of real estate and personal property. The use of phantom corporate entities continued to serve to conceal the Mayagüez and MEDI fraud scheme and allowed the defendants to bring Mayagüez and MEDI to believe that the nine million dollars had been invested as being falsely represented by defendants. Of the nine million dollars obtained from the municipality through material distortions, the defendants returned only 1,800,000 dollars to the municipality of Mayagüez and, in this sense, falsely represented that 1,800,000 dollars represents a return on investment.
If convicted, defendants face a maximum legal sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $ 250,000 for allegations of cable fraud and up to 10 years in prison for money laundering charges.