U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe | U.S. Department of Justice
Johanna Michely Garcia, former CEO of MJ Capital Funding, LLC, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. On July 16, Garcia, aged 41 from Broward County, Florida, admitted guilt to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. This involved orchestrating a Ponzi scheme with co-conspirator Pavel Ramon Ruiz Hernandez that defrauded investors of approximately $190.7 million.
MJ Capital Funding claimed to provide merchant cash advances (MCAs) for small businesses. From October 2020 to August 2021, Garcia and her associates solicited investments under false pretenses for funding MCAs. They misled investors about the use of their funds and promised returns based on non-existent profits from the MCA business. Instead, they operated a Ponzi scheme by paying earlier investors with new investor funds while embezzling millions for personal gain. Investors lost nearly $90 million out of almost $200 million raised.
After authorities shut down MJ Capital Funding in late 2021, Garcia and her team initiated another similar fraudulent scheme using entities like New Beginning Global Funding LLC and others until her arrest. The money raised continued being used to pay off previous investors rather than funding commercial loans as claimed.
Ruiz Hernandez faced charges in August 2022, pleaded guilty in April 2023, and received a sentence of over nine years followed by supervised release.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida along with FBI Miami's Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri and Russell C. Weigel III from the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR). Investigations were conducted by FBI Miami and OFR with assistance from SEC’s Miami Regional Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Cruz prosecuted this case while Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderon handled asset forfeiture matters.
Further information can be accessed via the District Court for the Southern District of Florida's website or through their PACER system under case number 23-cr-20350.
