FLORIDA — A 69-year-old Florida man pleaded guilty to a $14 million fraudulent check scheme on Thursday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Eri Guzman Ortiz, who previously resided in Miami-Dade County, admitted to using fraudulent and unauthorized checks to steal millions of dollars from thousands of bank accounts tied to people and businesses.
According to the DOJ, Ortiz used fraudulent checks to steal the money by transferring it from the victims' bank accounts to the bank accounts of "sham companies."
Guzman Ortiz pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 5, facing up to 20 years in prison.
Attorneys Daniel Zytnick and Anna Forgie of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff for the Southern District of Florida handling forfeiture.
Saudi flight from Tampa, secret FBI probe reveal possible Saudi support network for 9/11 hijackers
Twenty years after the Sept. 11 attacks, more than 80,000 records compiled by the Tampa FBI Field Office remain classified. Newly declassified documents are pointing to a possible secret Saudi support network for the hijackers. Soon after the attacks, the FBI uncovered that 15 of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.
