BY: STAFF REPORT | BocaNewsNow.com
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2022 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — It’s 30 months in federal prison for a Palm Beach County man who plead guilty to mail theft and ”washing” checks that he stole.
The United States Department of Justice issued this statement to BocaNewsNow.com.
USDOJ STATEMENT
On December 30, 2021, Danny Seruto Perez pled guilty to the fraud and identity theft offenses. According to court documents, starting in or around July 2018, the United States Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”) was alerted to a string of mail thefts from mail collection boxes after receiving complaints from multiple victims who stated that checks they had mailed out (including to pay their bills) never reached their intended recipients.
Through its investigation, USPIS learned that many of the victims’ stolen checks had been visibly altered (or “washed”) and re-written with Seruto Perez’s name as the payment recipient, and for larger payments than the original amounts written by the victims. Further investigation revealed that Seruto Perez fraudulently deposited these “washed” and stolen checks into his own bank account and into accounts held by his friends. Seruto Perez’s bank fraud scheme involved stolen checks from approximately 15 victims, totaling approximately $36,700 in stolen funds—all of which the court has now ordered him to pay back as restitution to the victims.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Joseph W. Cronin, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Inspector in Charge, Miami Division, made the announcement.
United States Postal Inspection Service, Orlando Domicile, investigated the case, in collaboration with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the Vero Beach Police Department and the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lacee Monk and Eduardo Gardea Jr. Assistant United States Attorney Emily Stone is handling forfeiture.
