WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division issued the following news release:
A Florida man pleaded guilty today to wire fraud for using fraudulent, unauthorized checks to steal money from victims' bank accounts.
According to court documents, Eri Guzman Ortiz, 69, formerly of Miami-Dade County, created and deposited about $14 million in fraudulent checks into the bank accounts of sham companies in the United States. The fraudulent checks were used to steal victims' money by transferring it from the victims' bank accounts to the bank accounts of the sham companies without the victims' authorization.
Guzman Ortiz's client in Canada sent him lists of thousands of people and businesses who had purportedly made p...