ATTORNEY GENERAL JAMES UTHMEIER CHARGES SEVEN IN MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR WORKERS' COMPENSATION FRAUD AND UNLICENSED MONEY SERVICE SCHEME

The following information was released by the office of the Florida Attorney General:

Attorney General James Uthmeier announced charges against seven defendants for their roles in a sophisticated, organized scheme that used multiple shell construction corporations to defraud workers' compensation insurers, operated an unlicensed money service business, and processed nearly $100 million in payroll.

"This criminal enterprise systematically exploited Florida's workers' compensation system for personal gain," said Attorney General James Uthmeier . "They undercut legitimate contractors, defrauded insurance companies, and operated an illegal money-service operation that moved nearly $100 million. Thanks to the outstanding work of the Broward County Sheriff's Office, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, our Statewide Prosecutors, we have dismantled this network and will hold every participant accountable."

According to the investigation, the defendants created and controlled a series of shell corporations. These entities obtained workers' compensation insurance policies by significantly underreporting the number of employees and the amount of payroll. The defendants then "rented" the certificates of insurance to otherwise uninsured subcontractors for a fee. In parallel, the same network processed and cashed the contractors' payroll checksoften for cash-paid laborers, including illegal aliensthrough an unlicensed money service business.

Physical surveillance established that the defendants worked and operated from the same location to process payroll checks and distribute cash directly to workers. Over the course of the investigation, nearly $100 million was processed through the shell companies and dispersed as payroll. Law enforcement seized more than $2.4 million in connection with the case.

The defendants are:

Marlen Suazo Gutierrez of West Palm Beach

Gustavo Lara Suazo of Lake Worth

Eduardo Blandon Martinez of West Palm Beach

Alejandra Lagos Matute of Lake Worth

Erick Blandon of Port St. Lucie

Blanca Ramirez Farina of Deerfield Beach

Eduardo Olivera Leal of Ocala

The defendants face charges that include Organized Scheme to Defraud, Operating as an Unlicensed Money Service Business, and Workman's Compensation Fraud. Additional charges against certain defendants include Money Laundering and Operating as an Unlicensed Money Transmitter.

The investigation was led by the Broward Sheriff's Office Division of Covert Operations Money Laundering Task Force, with assistance from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the Office of Statewide Prosecution.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Statewide Prosecutors Storm Tropea and Erica Arboleya of the Office of Statewide Prosecution in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit.

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