A Florida man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Boston for conspiring to use a stolen identities to obtain Small Business Administration disaster loans and then launder the money, the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement.
Hector Garcia, 52, of Ocala, Florida, was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper. Garcia must also pay $25,104.33 in restitution to the Small Business Administration.
Garcia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud in April 2024.
“Garcia conspired with Ramon Cruz, Darwyn Joseph, Edwin Acevedo, and others, to use stolen identity information of United States citizens to apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans,” the statement said.
Garcia used the stolen identity information to open a fraudulent bank account. He then linked the account to other fraudulent bank accounts, which were set up to receive the SBA funds., the statement said.
“Garcia and his co-conspirators used debit cards associated with those accounts to launder the funds by purchasing iPhones for resale. Garcia and other co-conspirators wired a portion of the funds to the Dominican Republic,” the statement reads.
Garcia and his co-conspirators obtained $452,000 in SBA funds in connection with the scheme. About $250,000 of that money was used to buy iPhones in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“Cruz and Joseph pleaded guilty and were each sentenced in August 2023 and October 2023, respectively, to two years and one day in prison and three years of supervised release. Acevedo pleaded guilty and was sentenced in August 2023 to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release,” the statement reads.
