Florida man sentenced for role related to government impersonator scam

FLORIDA – A Florida man has been sentenced for a money laundering conspiracy related to a government impersonator scam, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has announced.

William Perez, 28, Tampa, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew for conspiracy to commit money laundering. As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $245,980, the proceeds of the crime. Perez pleaded guilty on August 31, 2022.

According to court documents, India-based conspirators falsely and fraudulently identified themselves as federal law enforcement officers, such as Social Security Administration officials, FBI agents, or IRS officers, provided “official” titles and/or “badge numbers,” and threatened their victims with imminent arrest, a lawsuit, and/or other economic consequences.

Reportedly, the calls were usually based on alleged drug trafficking or money laundering crimes supposedly committed using the victims’ identities.

According to court documents, the conspirators told victims, the majority of whom were older adults, that they could avoid these consequences by mailing checks or cash equivalents to conspirators in the United States. From April 2018 through at least August 2018, Perez reportedly laundered money that had been extorted from United States residents by conspirators residing in the United States and overseas.

Perez is said to have received payments directly from victims, typically via packages sent via a commercial carrier. Once he retrieved the fraud proceeds, Perez reportedly provided them to his coconspirators and was paid for conducting the transactions.

“Millions of Americans, to include the most vulnerable of the population, have fallen victim to IRS impersonation scheme telephone calls which ultimately led to the loss of their life savings,” said Ronald A. Loecker IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge.

“Today’s sentence again demonstrates our persistent resolve to hold fraudsters accountable for taking advantage of both the system and the elderly with the hope justice has been served”.

This case was investigated by Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General. Special Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Huyler prosecuted it.