Florida Bank Fraud Law
<h2> <center> State of Florida v. Cassandra Thompson, aka Cassandra Costentine </h2> <center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represents the Defendant charged with Third-degree grand theft, money laundering unlawful proceeds, unlawful use of a communications device, and a computer offense involving fraud. Digested by: <a href="https://www.morelaw.com/vendors/vendor.asp?f=Kent&l=Morlan&i=28729&z=74119&s=OK" target="_new">Kent Morlan</a> State of Florida v. Cassandra Thompson... More...
$ (07-27-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Kenia Marrero and Joan Navarro Bruguet </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida criminal defense lawyers represent the Defendants engaged in a conspiracy to obtain and sell Medicare beneficiary identifier numbers (BINs) of thousands of patients for use in Medicare fraud schemes. Reported by: <a href="https://www.morelaw.com/vendors/vendor.asp?f=Kent&l=Morlan&i=28729&z=74119&s=OK" target="_new">Kent Morlan</a> Kenia Marrero, 46, of Miami, paid Joan Navarro... More...
$ (06-12-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Rebecca Stewart Vaughn
Tampa, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of theft of government money. By Kent Morlan Rebecca Stewart Vaughn, age 64, Tampa, Florida, engaged in a fraud scheme to obtain Social Security benefits and City of New York pension benefits that did not belong to her. The benefits were being paid to Vaughn’s aunt, J.C. ... More...
$ (05-11-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Roody Metelus </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with preparing and submitting false tax forms to support more than 200 fraudulent loan applications under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). By Kent Morlan Roody Metelus, 47, of Westlake, owned and operated JRS Tax Services, LLC, in Dania Beach. From app... More...
$ (05-11-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Joel Rufus French </h2> </center>
Tampa, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States Government, mail fraud, and money laundering. By Kent Morlan Joel Rufus French, age 47 of Armory, Mississippi, engaged in a conspiracy to defraud of the United States. French worked with overseas telemarketing call centers that pressured elderly Americans to provide thei... More...
$ (05-09-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Marcus Bernard Clark </h2> </center>
Orlando, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with fraud and related access devices fraudulently used with fifteen or more unauthorized devices and aggravated identity theft. Marcus Bernard Clark, age 31, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, worked at a Wendy’s fast food restaurant in Destin, Florida. During a judicially authorized extraction of the defendant’s cell ... More...
$ (04-30-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Colleen Kieran </h2> </center>
Orlando, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud. Colleen Kieran, age 57, of Clermont, Florida, oversaw the accounting department of a business based in Seminole County. Over the course of nearly 13 years, Kieran used her position to siphon more than $3.9 million from the company’s accounts into her own personal PayPal account. After taking the money... More...
$ (04-30-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Boise Cascade </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendant charged with Lacey Act Trafficking. The Boise Cascade Company (Boise Cascade) was accused of felony violation of the Lacey Act for its role in a timber trafficking scheme to evade countervailing and anti-dumping duties. “Boise Cascade either knew about or was willfully blind to the illegal importation of the plywood they w... More...
$ (04-30-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> State of Florida v. Mauricio Jimenez </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with fraud. Jimenez, 48, of Hialeah, Florida, was a Home Depot Manager. He is accused providing discounts to “a core of accounts” and that the “high markdown activity” at his old store stopped once he left, and “took a dramatic upturn” at his new store once he arrived. Of the $55 million in gross sales th... More...
$ (04-23-2026 - FL)<h2> <central> United States of America v. Joseph Elegele, Jr. </h2> </central>
Orlando, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Between August 2017 and June 2023, Joseph Elegele, Jr. (41, Orlando) was part of a fraud scheme that laundered funds that had been fraudulently obtained from various businesses throughout the United States and in the Bahamas. Elegele’s role in the scheme was to establish bu... More...
$ (04-20-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Ronald St. Clair </h2> </center>
Fort Myers, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with attempted tax evasion. Ronald St. Clair attempted to hide his assets from the IRS after accumulating tax debts for 2011 through 2017. In 2020, after the IRS notified St. Clair that it intended to levy his assets to collect his unpaid taxes, St. Clair sold real property he owned and transferred the proceeds into ... More...
$ (04-10-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Jasen Butler </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud, forgery, and money laundering. Jasen Bulter, age 38, of Jupiter, the owner of Independent Marine Oil Services LLC, corrupted the competitive bidding process for military fuel contracts and submitted dozens of falsified documents such as wire transfer memos and invoices to multiple U.S. warships between A... More...
$ (04-10-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Jean Joseph and Janalies Camille Bingham </H2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendants charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Jean Joseph, also known as “Jon,” 55, of Boca Raton, and Camille Bingham, also known as Janalie Camille Joseph, 44, also of Boca Raton were accused of orchestrating a years-long real estate investment fraud scheme that raised more than $50 million from inves... More...
$ (04-01-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> State of Florida v. Briana McCarthy, Brianna Hannan, Carlotta Hawkins, Kearla Walerk Whitney Branch, and Kavon Reese </h2> </center>
Tallahassee, Florida, criminal defense lawyers represent the Defendants chargd with fraud. Six individuals charged with defrauding the Florida. The individuals were accused of orchestrating a scheme to process property damage claims through the Florida Division of Risk Management, allegedly defrauding the state of $1.7 million. The Florida Department of Financial Services Criminal Investigati... More...
$ (03-31-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Luis Emilio Hernandez
Fort Myers, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud and money laundering. Following Hurricane Ian in 2022, Luis Emilio Hernandez, age 45, of Naples, convinced an 85-year-old victim to write him personal checks totaling over $1.2 million for construction materials and repairs that were never performed. Instead, Hernandez cashed the checks for his own p... More...
$ (03-31-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Irazmar Carbajal De Jesus </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with agreeing to use an unlicensed money services business to circumvent U.S. sanctions relating to Venezuela by transferring approximately $100,000 from the Dominican Republic. Irazmar Carbajal De Jesus, 60, agreed to transfer approximately $99,500 delivered in cash in the Dominican Republic to a specified bank account ... More...
$ (03-27-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Christopher Harwood </n2> <center>
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with health care fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Christopher Harwood, 43, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, admitted that he owned and operated a telemedicine company called TelevisitMD. Harwood and his co-conspirators targeted Medicare patients through aggressive telemarketing campaigns, inducing them to ... More...
$ (03-27-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> State of Florida v. Richard N. Golding </h2> </center>
Tallahassee, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represents the Defendant charged with fraud, money laundering in theft for allegedly stealing funds from the city of Tallahassee, Florida. Illinois attorney Richard N. Golding, 83, charged with two counts of wire fraud, money laundering, grand theft and attempted grand theft.... More...
$ (03-20-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Tomás Niembro Concha </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Powers Act and Wire Fraud. Tomás Niembro Concha, 64, of Miami, Florida, conspired with others to siphon money from Nodus Bank, ultimately leading to the bank’s failure in 2023. Niembro and his co-conspirators concealed from other Nodus Bank board members and execut... More...
$ (03-21-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with defrauding COVID-19 relief programs of millions of dollars and concealing his criminal conduct during the naturalization process. Between April 2020 and May 2021, Joff Stenn Wroy Philossaint, 25, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds through companies he owned or controlled and by p... More...
$ (03-19-2026 - FL)<h2> </center> United States of America v. Patrick and Charles Boyd </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendants charged with: 18 U.S.C. § 371 CONSPIRACY TO INTRODUCE ADULTERATED AND MISBRANDED DRUGS (1) 21 U.S.C. § 331(a) and 333(a)(2) INTRODUCTION OF A MISBRANDED DRUG INTO INTERSTATE COMMERCE (2-3) 18 U.S.C. § 670 CONSPIRACY TO TRAFFIC IN MEDICAL PRODUCTS WITH FALSE DOCUMENTATION (4) 18 U.S.C. § 1349 CONSPIRACY TO COM... More...
$ (03-16-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> State of Florida v. Sonia Infante-Perez </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with grand theft, organized fraud, cashing or depositing a worthless check and possessing a counterfeit payment instrument. Sonia Infante-Perez, age 55, of Hialeah, accused of bank fraud for passing counterfeit checks.... More...
$ (03-14-2026 - FL)<h2> <center> United States of America v. Willan Pupo, Joel Castillo, William Castillo, Miriam Pupo, and Jessica Forpomes </h2> </center>
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyers represent the Defendants charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Willan Pupo, 38, was sentenced to 132 months in federal prison; Joel Castillo, 39, to 58 months; William Castillo, 42, was sentenced to 55 months in federal prison; Miriam Pupo, 36, to 37 months; and Jessica Forpomes, 40, to 36 months. Each defendant previously pleaded guilty to... More...
$ (03-11-2026 - FL)United States of America v. Mckenzie Levar Monestine
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with possessing approximately 450 fraudulent, stolen or counterfeit access devices, which included others’ credit card numbers, social security numbers, and means to gain access to bank accounts. On or about June 22, 2020, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Mckenzie Levar Monestine’s home. That search... More...
$ (02-27-2026 - FL)United States of America v. Joel Rufus French
Tampa, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged for his role in a yearslong scheme to bilk Medicare and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) out of nearly $200 million by selling patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotic braces that patients did not want or need. “This defendant’s conduct was egr... More...
$ (02-03-2026 - FL)United States of America v. Sherwood Avionics and Accessories, Inc.
Miami, Florida - Sherwood Avionics and Accessories, Inc. (Sherwood), headquartered in Opa-Locka, has agreed to pay $109,618 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to use contractually required and updated technical manuals when performing repairs on U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) C-130 aircraft landing gear. “The False Claims Act protects more than taxpayer dollars�... More...
$ (01-29-2026 - FL)United States of America v. Sean J. Alterman
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and conspiracy to offer and pay health care kickbacks. Sean Alterman, 38, of Lake Worth, owned and operated two laboratories, Live Beyond Medical MGMT, LLC and Dynix Diagnostics LLC, through which he purchased doctors’ orders for expensive genetic testing from patient recruiter... More...
$ (01-20-2026 - FL)<H2> United States of America v. Jasen Butler,
West Palm Beach, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and forgery for orchestrating a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of War and other federal agencies out of over $4.5 million. Jason Butler, 37, of Jupiter, Florida, the owner of Independent Marine Oil Services LLC, submitted dozens of falsified documents such as wire tra... More...
$ (01-16-2026 - FL)<H2> State of Florida v. Regina Peacock
Tallahassee, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with grand theft and organized fraud. Regina Peacock accused of stealing thousands from her employer.... More...
$ (01-11-2026 - FL)<H2> United States of America v. Eduardo Saavedra Melayes
Panama City, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with aggravated identify theft, falsely representing U.S. citizenship, and false statement in application for passport. In December of 2023, the Eduardo Saavedra Melayes, 45, a Mexican national, submitted a passport application in-person at a Panama City post office. Upon processing, the application was denied due... More...
$ (01-08-2026 - FL)<H2> United States of America v. Chason Reed Peck
Ocala, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with wire fraud and money laundering. On February 3, 2017, Chason Reed Peck (37, Palm City) applied for and received business financing from Deere & Company (“John Deere”). On February 16, 2020, Peck applied for a $300,000 total credit limit on his John Deere credit. Peck hand-wrote the financial application and gave... More...
$ (01-09-2026 - FL)<H2> United States of America v. Michael Kochen and Sandra Herek
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendants charged with Medicare Fraud. Michael Kochen, 42, and Sandro Herek, 56, targeted Medicare Advantage beneficiaries through deceptive telemarketing practices, pressuring elderly individuals to accept medical equipment they did not need — and in some cases, did not want. Over the course of the scheme, more than $17 million was pa... More...
$ (01-09-2026 - FL)<H2> State of Florida v. Armani Cherenfant
Miami, Florida criminal defense lawyer represents the Defendant charged with wire fraud. Armani Cherenfant, age 19, was arrested during the execution of a search warrant for an Airbnb location at 10000 block of Southwest 162nd Street that was being used to mimic a bank call center in an elaborate effort to spoof victims.... More...
$ (01-07-2026 - FL)<H2> State of Florida v. Ronny Neal
Sanford, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with 79 counts of official misconduct and one count of organized fraud after a year-long investigation into unpaid vendor accounts revealed fake officer off-duty jobs. Ronny Neal, the department's off-duty detail coordinator and a 22-year veteran of the force, had been making up off-duty details for nearly a year and ch... More...
$ (12-19-2025 - FL)<H2> United States of America v. Boris Arencibia and Jose Armando Rivera Garcia
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with Defendants charged with schemes involving the sale of diverted and misbranded pharmaceutical drugs, including medications used to treat HIV and cancer. Boris Arencibia, 52, and Jose Armando Rivera Garcia, 45, both of Miami, purchased high-priced prescriptions medications from illicit street sources—including patien... More...
$ (12-11-2025 - FL)United States of America v. Johnathan Gaines
Tampa, Florida criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with bank rubbery by force or violence.<br> <br> Gaines is serving a 711-month sentence for committing three armed robberies in 2000, brandishing a firearm during the<br> commission of one of those robberies, and discharging a firearm during another. At the time of his conviction, he received a 25-year mandatory minimum sente... More...
$0 (11-20-2025 - FL)United States of America v. Philip Smith Calixte
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with traffickling counterfeit devices and fraud with identification documents. ... More...
$0 (11-11-2025 - FL)State of Florida v. Zephen Xaver
Sebring, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with multiple counts of murder.<br> <br> Zephen Xaver was charged with killing five women inside a Sun Trust Bank in 2019. The women were: Customer Cynthia Watson, 65; bank teller coordinator Marisol Lopez, 55; banker trainee Ana Pinon-Williams, 38; teller Debra Cook, 54; and banker Jessica Montague, 31.... More...
$0 (11-11-2025 - FL)United States of America v. Tania Cesar
Miami, Florida, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and 5 counts of health care fraud.<br> <br> When reviewing the substantive reasonableness of a prison sentence, courts consider the totality of the circumstances under a defrential abuse-of-discretion standard. Gall v. United States, 552 U.S. 38, 51 (2007). The party... More...
$0 (10-30-2025 - FL)United States of America v. Clonet Junior Charmant
Tallahassee, Florida criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with attempt and conspiracy to commit fail fraud and bank fraud.<br> <br> harmant was sentenced to 26 months of imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release for his involvement in a fraud conspiracy. When Charmant began his supervised release term in October 2023, he had to comply with certain conditions, including: (... More...
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