Source: Office of United States Attorneys
MIAMI – Michel Duarte Suarez, 50, a Cuban national, pleaded guilty for his role in a scheme he directed from his residence in Panama to obtain control over an elderly victim’s bank account, steal more than $800,000 from the victim’s account, and then launder the proceeds with the assistance of co-conspirators in South Florida.
Suarez was initially indicted in September 2023 but resided in Panama City, Panama at the time. In January 2025, Suarez was arrested in Panama and brought to South Florida to face the charges.
According to court documents, in March 2022 Suarez explained to a confidential informant that he had access to the bank of account of an elderly victim, who was 82 years old at the time. To carry out the fraud conspiracy, Suarez created and mailed fraudulent checks from Panama to South Florida with directions to cash the checks and return 50% of the fraud proceeds to Suarez by wiring the money to Suarez’s Miami-based company, Online Electronics. The fraudulent checks contained forged signatures designed to resemble that of the victim’s signature on his/her signature card for that same bank account.
In total, Suarez and his co-conspirators stole approximately $803,000 from the elderly victim’s bank account during a four-month period.
Sentencing is set for September 29, 2025, in Miami before United States District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams. Suarez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud (Count 1) and one count of aggravated identity theft (Count 4). Suarez faces up to 30 years in prison on Count 1, and an additional mandatory two years in prison, to run consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed on Count 1.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jason Scalzo of the FDIC-OIG Electronic Crimes Unit; and Special Agent in Charge Rafael Barros of the US Secret Service Miami Field Office made the announcement.
Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Thor Pogozelski is prosecuting the case. Assistant United States Attorney Marx Calderon is handling asset forfeiture proceedings.
You may find a copy of this press release (and any updates) on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-CR-20359-WILLIAMS.
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