An American man will serve six years in a South Florida federal prison for his participation in a fraud scheme that stole approximately US$1.8 million in veteran and social security benefits, some of which he sent to his co-conspirators in Jamaica.
A federal jury found 29-year-old Garfield Green guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in November. In addition to his six-and-a-half-year prison term, a Fort Lauderdale judge ordered Green to pay restitution of US$915,000.
It is reported that Green, who is from Georgia, worked alongside others between 2012 and 2017 to defraud more than US$1.8 million from more than 100 disabled veterans and Social Security beneficiaries.
The federal government reimbursed the victims for the total amounts stolen from them.
Officials said the group obtained the victims’ personal information, opened bank accounts, and received debit cards in the victims’ names throughout South Florida and Georgia.
Authorities said a large portion of the funds were “ultimately funneled to the scheme’s architects in Jamaica.”
Four of Green’s co-conspirators — Jamare Mason, Omar Bailey, Kadeem Gordon, and Mario Ricketts — have already been sentenced for their roles in the scheme.
Two other men said to be suspects are yet to be arrested.
