PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — Federal agents arrested four men at a Pembroke Pines restaurant on Monday as part of an undercover lunchtime sting foiling their plan to cash a stolen U.S. Treasury check worth nearly $28 million, according to court documents obtained by Local 10 News on Wednesday.
The men ― three from Texas and one from South Florida ― were scheduled to make their initial appearances in Fort Lauderdale federal court on Wednesday morning on charges of theft of government property and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
According to a federal criminal complaint, federal agents learned earlier in the month that Carlos Manuel Villanueva, 37, of Hialeah, had access to the stolen $27,910,676.69 tax refund check, which was supposed to go to an unnamed company in Richmond, Virginia.
Investigators said Villanueva was working with Eric Renard Bedford, 44, and John Ryan Boxie, 43, both of Houston, and Jorge Cruz Garcia, 30, of Katy, Texas.
Authorities said on Nov. 5, Villanueva contacted someone who he thought was a “banker” who could help the quartet negotiate the check. But they said it was actually an undercover officer with the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
According to the complaint, Villanueva told the undercover officer that the company was “closed,” which they “believed prevented them from cashing it through legitimate means.”
Investigators said he also told the officer that the check would “expire” on Wednesday, “creating a sense of urgency,” and that the three men were outside of Florida and had possession of the check. According to the complaint, Villanueva also told the officer that the group had “access to other checks of a large amount and can get more.”
After confirming that he had seen the check, investigators said Villanueva coordinated a face-to-face meeting with the officer at the unnamed Pembroke Pines restaurant.
Villanueva, authorities said, “discussed the planned distribution of the proceeds” and said that he would get 20%, or roughly $5.6 million.
“He further asked the (undercover officer) to create three separate accounts to disburse the funds and discussed methods to ‘take all the money out’ over several months,” it states.
Villanueva and the undercover officer agreed to meet Monday at the unnamed Pembroke Pines restaurant, the complaint states.
Investigators said Villanueva arrived there at around 11:45 a.m., met with the agent and “discussed how the check would be negotiated and divided among the parties involved.”
Garcia showed up about an hour later in an Uber, authorities said.
Calling himself “David,” investigators said “he claimed to have extensive experience in negotiating stolen checks, particularly United States Treasury checks” and “also mentioned that he operates a business that is used to funnel the proceeds from these stolen checks.”
According to the complaint, Boxie and Bedford showed up in a white Maserati with Virginia plates at around 1:20 p.m. and Garcia met them outside.
Authorities said after the three entered the eatery, Boxie “introduced himself as an accountant with extensive financial and banking experience, having worked with two tax preparation firms” in Houston.
The group discussed logistics for structuring payments to “avoid any red flags” and eventually hatched a plan with the undercover officer, the complaint states.
Afterward, Bedford went to the Maserati and took out a white envelope, bringing it inside and giving it to the undercover officer, investigators said.
After the officer opened it and confirmed the check was inside, agents with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service moved in to take the men into custody, according to the complaint.
They were being held in the Broward Sheriff’s Office Main Jail on behalf of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Federal court records show the quartet had an initial appearance scheduled in front of a federal magistrate judge at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
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