Miami Man Drains $14,000,000 From Thousands of Victims in Check Fraud Scheme

A 69-year-old Florida man has pleaded guilty to stealing money from thousands of people and businesses by using fraudulent checks to make unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts.

Eri Guzman Ortiz, formerly of Miami-Dade County, admitted to one count of wire fraud after investigators say he created and deposited roughly $14 million in bogus checks through accounts belonging to sham companies.

According to court documents, Ortiz received lists from a client in Canada containing thousands of individuals and businesses that were supposedly customers of the fake companies.

The businesses and individuals had never made the purchases described on the lists and had not agreed to have money withdrawn from their accounts.

Prosecutors say Ortiz nevertheless used the information to generate fraudulent checks and deposit them into bank accounts controlled by the sham companies. The transactions were structured to make the unauthorized withdrawals appear legitimate.

Says U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida,

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