Four from Miami indicted for alleged scheme to defraud federal government

MIAMI, Fla. – Four Miami residents have been indicted for their alleged roles in a wire fraud scheme.

A federal grand jury has indicted Maylin Salado Garcia, 34, Niubis Garcia, 52, Oscar Enrique Pujadas, 32, and Sirce Rodriguez Rosales, 38, for their alleged participation in a wire fraud scheme to defraud the federal government out of more than $250,000 of funds intended for workforce development programs.

The charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit theft of government funds, theft of government funds, theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and aggravated identity theft, said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO).

According to the indictment, the defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly executed a scheme to enrich themselves by obtaining reimbursement of monies from federally funded programs and depositing the reimbursed federal funds into personal and corporate bank accounts they controlled for their own personal use. The defendants and their co-conspirators allegedly used stolen personal identifying information (PII) to create false and fraudulent employee files (“participant files”) and wage records.

The USAO said the alleged fake participant files and wage records were used as proof of employment, showing that individuals were employed at companies the defendants and their co-conspirators owned and controlled, as well as other companies.

According to court documents, Salado Garcia worked at Transition, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation in Miami-Dade County, first as a program supervisor and then as executive director. Transition received federal grants through the state of Florida, which were used to provide job training and placement services in the community.

Transition worked with, for example, the Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation Department’s (MDCR) Boot Camp Reentry Program, a federally funded program designed to provide education and training to inmates transitioning out of prison.

From around April 2017 and February 2019, while employed at Transition, Salado Garcia allegedly created participant files and wage records using stolen PII to obtain federal funds for work that was never performed and, in some cases, for employees who were not employed at the listed companies. The few that did, received lower hourly wages than what Salado Garcia recorded in the participant files, prosecutors said.

It is also alleged that Salado Garcia represented in the participant files that the employees purportedly worked at companies owned by her co-conspirators; her mother, Niubis Garcia, and her significant other, Pujadas. Additionally, Salado Garcia allegedly entered false payroll information into the Transition’s web-based payroll processor, including bank accounts owned by her and her co-conspirator, Rosales, to receive direct deposit payments from the federally funded programs which were intended for the purported employees.

According to prosecutors, Rosales allegedly provided Salado Garcia with stolen PII to create the fraudulent participant files. At the same time, Pujadas also cashed the fraudulently obtained reimbursement checks at a check-cashing store.

Salado Garcia, Niubis Garcia, and Rosales made their initial appearances last week before U.S. Magistrate Judge Otazo-Reyes. If convicted, Salado Garcia faces a maximum sentence of up to 87 months in addition to 24 months consecutively in prison, Niubis Garcia faces a maximum sentence of up to 51 months in prison, and

Rosales faces a maximum sentence of up to 57 months in prison.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Mathew Broadhurst of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Southeast Region, announced the charges.

DOL-OIG investigated the case with assistance from the Miami-Dade County Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Yisel Valdes is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Annika Miranda is handling asset forfeiture.

An indictment contains mere allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-cr-20116.