Three people in Miami have been charged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) with conspiracy to defraud banks and a cryptocurrency exchange for more than $4 million.
According to a press release by the DOJ, the three defendants, Esteban Cabrera Da Corte, Luis Hernandez Gonzalez and Asdrubal Ramirez Meza were arrested on August 23.
CABRERA, HERNANDEZ, and RAMIREZ will be presented in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“Today’s arrests demonstrate how HSI, along with the U.S. Secret Service and our partners at the Southern District of New York, will continue to work together to leverage the transparency of cryptocurrency transactions to follow the trail of illicit funds and pierce the veil of anonymity,” said Ricky J. Patel, HSI Acting Special Agent-in-Charge.
An unsealed indictment by the DOJ alleges that the Miami-based trio opened accounts on a ‘leading cryptocurrency exchange platform’ using photos of fake U.S. passports, fake drivers’ licenses, and stolen personal identifying information.
The defendants linked those crypto accounts to several bank accounts, deposited money into them using ATMs and then purchased crypto.
The defendants purchased more than $4 million worth of crypto and transferred it to a wallet outside the exchange controlled by the defendants and their co-conspirators.
After the transfer was completed, the defendants made calls to the banks and falsely represented that the cryptocurrency purchases were unauthorized, leading the banks to reverse the transactions.
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This whole scheme resulted in the banks processing more than $4 million in fraudulent reversals while the above-mentioned exchange lost more than $3.5 million in crypto.
All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The matter is being handled by the Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Deininger is in charge of the prosecution.
