A 50-year-old Cuban national has pleaded guilty in a South Florida federal court to orchestrating a multi-state fraud and money laundering scheme that stole more than $800,000 from an elderly victim’s bank account.
Michel Duarte Suarez admitted to leading the scheme from his residence in Panama City, Panama, where he directed the theft and laundering of funds belonging to an 82-year-old victim. Suarez was indicted in September 2023 but remained in Panama until his arrest and extradition to South Florida in January 2025.
According to court documents, Suarez told a confidential informant in March 2022 that he had access to the victim’s bank account. He then created and mailed fraudulent checks from Panama to South Florida. Suarez instructed others to cash the checks and wire 50% of the stolen funds to his Miami-based company, Online Electronics. The checks contained forged signatures made to resemble the victim’s genuine signature on file.
In just four months, Suarez and his co-conspirators stole approximately $803,000 from the account.
Suarez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He faces up to 30 years in prison on the fraud charge and a mandatory additional two years for the identity theft offense. Sentencing is scheduled for September 29, 2025, before U.S. District Judge Kathleen M. Williams in Miami.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida; FBI Miami Field Office Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles; FDIC-OIG Electronic Crimes Unit Special Agent in Charge Jason Scalzo; and U.S. Secret Service Miami Field Office Special Agent in Charge Rafael Barros.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Thor Pogozelski is prosecuting the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon handling the asset forfeiture proceedings.
