A federal district court in Nevada has sentenced Eduardo “Eddie” Lopez, a Las Vegas executive, to 40 months in prison and ordered him to pay $550,000 in criminal fines. Lopez is also required to pay $2,496,101 in restitution to the purchaser of his home healthcare company and must forfeit $10,459,000 obtained from the fraudulent sale.
Lopez was convicted in April for leading a conspiracy to fix the wages of home healthcare nurses in Las Vegas between March 2016 and May 2019. He was also found guilty on five counts of fraud for hiding an antitrust investigation from the buyer during the sale of his staffing company for over $10 million.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi commented on the case: “American workers are the bedrock of President Trump’s administration. We will continue to tirelessly fight for the innocent, like the hardworking nurses harmed in this case.”
Assistant Attorney General Abigail A. Slater of the Antitrust Division said: “Wage-fixing is a brazen crime rightly punished by a lengthy period of incarceration. The dignity of work in return for a fair wage is core to our free-market enterprise system. The Defendant — a convicted antitrust criminal — profited at the expense of his employees and the unwitting buyer of his home healthcare company.” Slater added: “Far from being a mere ‘technical violation,’ wage-fixing is a real crime that harms innocent people — in this case nurses — and today’s sentence — the Justice Department’s first ever wage-fixing conviction — reflects that such conduct will not be resolved with a fine.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada stated: “This case demonstrates the consequences of violating antitrust laws. By conspiring to fix wages, the defendant deprived hardworking nurses the right to earn a fair wage. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with the Antitrust Division and FBI to protect workers and we will prosecute those who seek to exploit others for personal gain.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said: “A free and fair market are principles of the United States, and the FBI is committed to investigating those who seek to disrupt that and scam hardworking Americans. The victims here are the hardworking nurses, who suffered loss of wages while they tirelessly cared for and helped Americans. The FBI will continue the fight against corruption and fraud across the country and globe.”
The investigation was led by staff from both federal law enforcement agencies including Senior Litigation Counsel Jeffrey Cramer; Mikal Condon; Assistant Chief Andrew Mast; Trial Attorneys Paradi Javandel and Conor Bradley; as well as Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Anthony Lopez.
The public is encouraged to report any information related to this or other antitrust crimes through the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center. Whistleblowers may be eligible for rewards if their reports lead to significant recoveries; more details can be found at the Antitrust Whistleblower Rewards Program.
