A Cuban national pleaded guilty to orchestrating a scheme from Panama to steal more than $800,000 from an elderly victim’s bank account, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Michel Duarte Suarez, 50, who directed the fraud from his residence in Panama City, used forged checks and co-conspirators in South Florida to launder the stolen funds, according to court documents.
Authorities detail fraudulent scheme
Court documents reveal that in March 2022, Suarez told a confidential informant he had access to an 82-year-old victim’s bank account.
He mailed fraudulent checks with forged signatures resembling the victim’s to South Florida, instructing co-conspirators to cash them and wire 50 percent of the proceeds to his Miami-based company, Online Electronics.
The scheme resulted in approximately $803,000 stolen over four months, the DOJ stated.
Arrested in Panama, extradited to South Florida
Suarez, indicted in September 2023, was arrested in Panama in January 2025 and extradited to South Florida.
He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Suarez faces up to 30 years in prison for the conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive two-year term for identity theft, with sentencing scheduled for September 29, 2025, before U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams, according to the DOJ.
