Hialeah Check Casher Pleads Guilty to Laundering Over $100 million in Healthcare Mortgage(etc fraud)

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdfl/pr/hialeah-check-casher-pleads-guilty-laundering-over-100-million-healthcare-mortgage-and

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 11, 2018

Hialeah Check Casher Pleads Guilty to Laundering Over $100 million in Healthcare, Mortgage and Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Proceeds

A Hialeah check casher pled guilty yesterday to laundering over $100 million in proceeds of healthcare, mortgage and identity theft tax refund fraud.
(snip)

Evelio Suarez, 53, of Miramar, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. to one count of money laundering. Surarez is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Scola on December 18, 2018, at 8:30 a.m.

According to the agreed upon factual proffer and court documents, from 2013 through 2015 (the “relevant period”), Suarez controlled a number of check-cashing stores located in Hialeah, Florida (the “Suarez Stores”). During this period, the defendant caused the cashing of checks at the Suarez Stores that were the proceeds of fraudulent activity, including identity-theft tax refund fraud, health care fraud, and mortgage fraud. On numerous occasions, Suarez cashed individual fraudulent Medicare checks exceeding $200,000 and individual U.S. Treasury tax refund checks exceeding $150,000. Suarez knew that the checks had been obtained from fraudulent activity and, on occasion, knowingly accepted fake identification documents.

According to the factual proffer, because Suarez knew the funds came from illegal sources, the defendant charged an additional fee on top of the standard fee charged by the check-cashing stores. Suarez charged this as a personal fee that he took in cash from the stores. Suarez also often withheld money from the checks and falsely claimed to the scammers that the money from their checks had been frozen by the banks or the authorities.

According to the factual proffer, during the relevant period, Suarez knowingly cashed at least $100 million in checks that came from either identity-theft tax refund fraud, healthcare fraud or mortgage fraud.
(snip)

[Midnight Writer]

1. Was Rick Scott a customer?