Man who tried to cash fake $1B bond was duped, his lawyer says

A man who now admits that he tried to cash a counterfeit $1 billion dollar bond in Broward County was duped, his lawyer said.

But Hugo Barrios Brecino knows he committed a federal crime and that he should have done more to check whether the document was authentic before trying to cash it, his attorney said.

Barrios Brecino, 50, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge Tuesday in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. The prosecution and defense have agreed to recommend a punishment of two years in federal prison when he is sentenced in January.

“Even though he was duped, he wants to do the right thing and admit that what he did was wrong,” defense lawyer Albert

Quirantes told the Sun Sentinel after the court hearing. “My client feels stupid because he should have done more digging before attempting to cash it.”

Barrios Brecino, a civil engineer from Venezuela who entered the U.S. on a business visa, obtained the fake bond from a financial company in Colombia, his lawyer said. Barrios Brecino had previously done legitimate financial business with the company, which he trusted, the attorney said.

Barrios Brecino and his friend Michael Ifrah, 54, of Aventura, were indicted on federal charges after the U.S. Secret Service said they tried to cash the bond in August at the office of a financial adviser in Fort Lauderdale.

The adviser tipped off law enforcement and an undercover agent attended the recorded meeting, prosecutors said.

Ifrah pleaded not guilty on Monday. He was arrested last week and is jailed pending trial later this year.

In July, Barrios Brecino sent photos of the document to Ifrah, an international small business consultant. The lawyer said Ifrah previously gave financial advice to Barrios Brecino and helped him open businesses, including a company that imported fabrics from Turkey to South Florida.

Attorney Quirantes said Ifrah claimed to have confirmed the bond was valid, though Ifrah’s lawyers disputed that in court earlier this week. Prosecutors, who have not revealed all of the evidence they are relying on, told the judge both men claimed the bond was authentic.

Investigators say a Google search would have quickly revealed the bond was a fake and three financial institutions in Washington, D.C., declined it.

Quirantes said Barrios Brecino had agreed to pay a 1 percent commission — or $100 million — to the Colombian company after he cashed or sold the bond and that Ifrah was to be paid an unspecified amount.

Ifrah also referred Barrios Brecino to a company in Washington, D.C., that charged Barrios Brecino $20,000 for a verification process that was not completed, Quirantes said.

Speaking through a Spanish interpreter in court on Tuesday, Barrios Brecino repeatedly told the judge that he wanted to plead guilty.

“This is what I want to do,” he said.

His lawyer told the Sun Sentinel that Barrios Brecino, a father of three who has been jailed since August, did not want to risk going to trial.

If the jury did not believe him, he faced an estimated 14 to 16 years in federal prison.

“The risk of going to trial is too high,” Quirantes said. “He knows he did some things that were wrong.”

U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas will make the final decision on the appropriate punishment in January.