The money “invested” by the municipality of Mayaguez was originally intended for the Trauma Center of the Medical Center of the Western Sultan, confirmed on Wednesday, the federal prosecutor, W. Stephen Muldrow.
“The indictment and the information we have given clearly reflects that the victim was Mayaguez, the town of Mayaguez. The fact that it happened that they decided to hand over $ 9 million to invest is explained in the indictment,” he said. Muldrow to questions from the press.
Was it for the Trauma Center?, Muldrow was asked.
“Yes,” the federal prosecutor replied.
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A Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico issued a formal indictment accusing seven people of thirty-three counts of electronic fraud and money laundering. W. Stephen Muldrow, federal prosecutor of the District of Puerto Rico and Tyler Hatcher, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, and Rafael Riviere Vázquez, special agent in in charge of the FBI, they made the announcement.
“The defendants were entrusted with this conspiracy to invest public money for the benefit of the municipality of Mayagüez and the western area, but instead used a small portion for personal gain and expense, defrauding 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 defendants 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 purposes. they betray the trust of the citizens they are supposed to 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 complying with the laws, regardless of position of influence. The IRS Criminal Investigation together with our law enforcement partners will continue our collective efforts to enforce the law and build public confidence. “
In the prosecution act it is alleged that from March 2016 to June 2018, the 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 scheme to defraud the municipality of Mayagüez and Mayagüez Economic Development Inc (henceforth “MEDI”) of money belonging to Mayagüez, by falsely representing that the entire $ 9,000,000 in capital belonging to the Municipality of Mayagüez and entrusted to MEDI for de facto investment, was invested and gave a significant rate of return. MEDI is a national public for-profit corporation created with the purpose of promoting 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.
Defendants transferred, distributed and spent the money inconsistently with statements made to the Municipality of Mayagüez and MEDI about the investment of money, to include purchases of: a marine boat, jewelry, clothing, school tuition, restaurants, services public, credit card, payments and home decor, as well as real estate improvements (swimming pools, for example) and the payment of home mortgages.
Using multiple phantom corporate entities and financial accounts, the defendants collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars belonging to the Municipality of Mayagüez, intended for investments, which the defendants then used for personal expenses and purchases of movable and immovable property. . The use of ghost corporate entities further served to conceal the plan to defraud Mayagüez and MEDI and allowed the defendants to put Mayagüez and MEDI to sleep by making them believe that the nine million dollars were invested as falsely represented by the defendants. Of the nine million dollars obtained from the municipality through material misrepresentations, the defendants only returned $ 1,800,000 to the Municipality of Mayagüez and in doing so, falsely represented that the $ 1,800,000 was 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 charges related to electronic fraud and up to 10 years in prison for money laundering charges.