A federal court in Nevada has sentenced Eduardo “Eddie” Lopez of Las Vegas to 40 months in prison and ordered him to pay $550,000 in criminal fines. Lopez must also pay $2,496,101 in restitution to the purchaser of his home healthcare company and forfeit $10,459,000 gained from the fraudulent sale.
Lopez was convicted in April for leading a conspiracy to fix the wages of home healthcare nurses in the Las Vegas area between March 2016 and May 2019. He was also found guilty on five counts of fraud for hiding the government’s antitrust investigation from the buyer during the sale of his company, which sold for over $10 million.
“American workers are the bedrock of President Trump’s administration,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will continue to tirelessly fight for the innocent, like the hardworking nurses harmed in this case.”
“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.” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail A. Slater of the Antitrust Division. “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.”
“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,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. “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.”
“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,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “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 conducted by both federal prosecutors from San Francisco's Antitrust Division office and agents from the FBI’s International Corruption Unit, with support from Nevada's U.S. Attorney's Office.
Individuals with information related to this or other antitrust crimes are encouraged to contact the Antitrust Division’s Complaint Center at www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations. Whistleblowers who report original information resulting in significant recoveries may qualify for rewards through programs such as www.justice.gov/atr/whistleblower-rewards.
