The money “invested” by the Mayagüez Municipality was originally intended for the Trauma Center of the Sultana del Oeste Medical Center, federal prosecutor, W. Stephen Muldrow, confirmed Wednesday.
“The accusation and the information we have given clearly reflect that the victim was Mayagüez, the people of Mayagüez. The fact of how it happened that they decided to invest $ 9 million is explained in the charges, ”Muldrow said to press inquiries.
Was it for the Trauma Center?Muldrow was asked.
“Yes,” replied the federal prosecutor.
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A federal grand jury in the district of Puerto Rico has filed a formal indictment in which seven people charged thirty-three counts of wire fraud and money laundering. W. Stephen Muldrow, federal prosecutor for the Puerto Rico district 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 charge of the FBI, they have made the announcement.
“The defendants in this conspiracy were entrusted to invest public money for the benefit of the Mayagüez Municipality and the Western Zone, but instead used some of it for personal gain and expenditure, defrauding the government,” Muldrow said in written statements. . “We will continue to focus on these types of fraud systems and will work with our law enforcement partners to bring the suspects to justice,” he added.
Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation Miami Field Office, acting responsible agent, said, “People in a position of trust who use public money to commit fraud for personal enrichment purposes betray the trust of citizens who are expected to serve. These funds were intended to improve the quality of life of the residents of a region of Puerto Rico and this fraud will not go unpunished. We are all responsible for complying with the laws, 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 confidence. “
The indictment alleges that from March 2016 to June 2018, defendants Eugenio García Jiménez, aka “Gino”; Stephen Kirkland, aka “Steve”; Steve Minger; Alejandro Riera Fernández; Joseph Kirkland; Arnaldo Irizarry Irizarry; and Roberto Mejill Tellado organized a plan to destroy the Mayagüez Municipality and Mayagüez Economic Development Inc. (hereinafter “MEDI”) to defraud Mayagüez’s money by falsely proposing that the total of $ 9,000,000 in capital from Mayagüez Municipality and entrusted to MEDI for investment, was in fact invested and yielded a significant return . MEDI is a national for-profit public company founded with the aim of promoting the economic development of Mayagüez and the western region of Puerto Rico, creating jobs, supporting infrastructure projects and improving the quality of life of the citizens.
The defendants transferred, distributed and spent the money in a manner contrary to the statements made to the Mayagüez Municipality and MEDI regarding the investment of the money, including the purchases of: a seagoing vessel, jewelry, clothing, school fees, restaurants, public services, credit cards, payments and home decoration, as well as real estate improvements (e.g. swimming pools) and home mortgage payments.
Using multiple phantom legal entities and financial accounts, the defendants collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Mayagüez Municipality for investment, which the defendants then used for personal expenses and purchases of real and personal property. The use of phantom companies further served to conceal the plan to defraud Mayagüez and MEDI and allowed the defendants to make Mayagüez and MEDI believe that the $ 9 million invested had been falsely represented by the defendants. Of the $ 9 million obtained from the municipality through material misrepresentation, the defendants returned only $ 1,800,000 to Mayagüez Municipality, falsely claiming that the $ 1,800,000 was a payback period.
If convicted, defendants can face a maximum legal sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $ 250,000 on allegations of fraud and up to 10 years in prison on allegations of money laundering.