Five men have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami for their alleged involvement in a nationwide fraud and money laundering scheme that targeted payment processors and financial technology systems. The indictment charges Michael Jerry Phanor, 35; John Ngotho, 33; William Lopes, 35; Armani Amado, 28; and Henry Nunez, 27 with wire fraud and money laundering offenses.
According to the indictment and statements made during court hearings, the group is accused of conspiring to manipulate refund transactions at retail chains across the United States. The defendants allegedly used a “split-tender” method—purchasing merchandise with two debit cards and then returning it to secure multiple refunds on one card while intentionally delaying the second refund. They reportedly did this by presenting the wrong card or entering incorrect pin numbers, which kept the transaction open and caused repeated credits to be issued to one debit card.
While one member conducted these staged returns in stores, others monitored accounts online to quickly withdraw or transfer funds after receiving fraudulent credits. After several credits were received from a single purchase, they would end the return process and take the merchandise to other locations to repeat the scheme. This method is said to have generated tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent credits per transaction.
The operation was carried out at numerous stores nationwide, including locations in Miami, Tampa, New York City, Chicago, Phoenix, and Southern California. Law enforcement has identified $1.5 million in fraudulent refund credits so far and continues investigating additional accounts.
Authorities also report that members of the group displayed their illicit gains on social media by posting about private jet travel, luxury vehicles, exclusive club visits with bottle service, and calling themselves the “Money Grows On Trees” collective.
Four of the defendants—Phanor, Ngotho, Lopes, and Nunez—were arrested on August 26 during search warrants executed at two luxury penthouse apartments in downtown Miami. It was noted that Ngotho is a citizen of Kenya and Phanor is a citizen of Haiti; both face possible deportation if convicted.
“U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami announced the charges.”
“HSI Miami investigated the case.”
“Assistant U.S. Attorney Sterling M. Paulson and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Roca Shaw are prosecuting the case.”
“An indictment contains mere allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.”
Additional information about related court documents can be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida or here, under case number 25-CR-20396.
