Orlando, FL - U.S. District Judge Charlene E. Honeywell sentenced three individuals for their roles in a conspiracy to defraud the government. Eliseo Dela Rosa (38, Orlando) was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison, Ana Torres (27, Kissimmee) was sentenced to two years' probation and Ada Lopez (39, Orlando) was sentenced to six months' home confinement as a condition of four years of probation. All three pleaded guilty on Nov. 16, 2012.
According to court documents, the Internal Revenue Service discovered that Dela Rosa and others fraudulently received IRS refunds and stimulus checks. They then cashed or deposited the checks at Bank of America. Torres and Lopez worked as bank tellers at Bank of America. Between May 2007 and July 2008, Dela Rosa took several Treasury checks to Lopez and Torres. Lopez and Torres would either cash or deposit the checks into another individual's Bank of America checking account. The women would then give the money to Dela Rosa or one of his runners who dropped off the checks for him.
Lopez cashed checks for Dela Rosa and received payment for each check she cashed. All checks already had been endorsed before Lopez received them. If a check was not endorsed, Lopez would give the check back to Dela Rosa who would bring the check back later. Lopez cashed about $244,000 in checks.
Between May 2, 2007, and Sept. 11, 2007, Torres also deposited Treasury checks received from Dela Rosa or his runners. She cashed a total of approximately $46,000 in checks. Torres withdrew her fee for cashing the checks and gave the remainder of the proceeds to Dela Rosa.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tanya Davis Wilson.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
