Nine in Broward arrested in $94M scheme

Nine Broward County residents have been federally charged along with six others in a $94 million international money-laundering and fraud scheme, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

The fraudulent operation ran from 2008 to the present and involved romance frauds, email hacking schemes, as well as inheritance and lottery scams, prosecutors said.

Arrested from Broward County were: Jose Daniel Estrella, 38, of Hallandale Beach; Robinson Castillo, 32, and Jamie Vives, 42, Gary Alberto Camillo, 26, Jean-Phillipe Etienne, 25, all of Pembroke Pines; Karina Marie Ocasio, 24, of Weston; Luis Angel de Jesus Alfonseca Pujols, 24, of Sunrise; Randy Eliessel Santos, 29, of Hollywood; and Cosme Daniel Enrique Vasquez, 36, of Miramar.

Arrested from MiamiDade County were: Alfredo Tovar, 36, of Miami Gardens; Quiana Velasco, 35, of Miami; and Pedro Reyes, 38, of Hialeah.

The other arrestees were Geannis Gonzales, 32, of Peyton, Colo.; Roda Taher, 38, and Hanan Jaafar, 26, both of Beirut, Lebanon.

The accused, prosecutors say, recruited people to act as “money mules” to establish shell corporations and open bank accounts across South Florida.

Fraud victims would wire money to the accounts and the money mules, in turn, would wire the money overseas, prosecutors said.