Key West resident Caridad Rioseco Alejandrez, 51, has been ordered to pay $607,566 in restitution after pleading guilty to mail fraud tied to false claims filed in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The judgment, handed down November 30, 2016, by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez at the Key West Federal Courthouse, marks one of the largest individual restitution orders in the long-running probe into fraud against the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF).
Alejandrez was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for orchestrating a widespread scheme to defraud the $20 billion private trust fund established by BP plc in June 2010. The GCCF was created to compensate individuals and businesses harmed by the oil spill that followed the April 20, 2010 explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon rig. Alejandrez not only filed false claims for herself and family members but acted as a facilitator for hundreds of Key West-area residents, fabricating tax returns, wage statements, and loss documentation to support claims of economic damage that never occurred.
Her own fraudulent claim netted her $35,900 from the GCCF, while her father, Raul Rioseco, 74, of Stock Island, Florida, received $55,000 under a similar false pretense. Raul Rioseco pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in April 2016 and was sentenced to one year and a day in prison, plus three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $144,606.57 in restitution and to surrender all state and federal commercial fishing licenses — a move underscoring the brazen misuse of a program meant to aid those truly impacted by ecological and economic devastation.
Court records show the fraud was executed through the U.S. mail and the Internet, with Alejandrez producing falsified employment verification letters and tax documents that falsely claimed lost income due to the spill. In reality, neither she nor most of the claimants she represented suffered measurable financial harm from the incident. Her role as a local tax preparer and paperwork facilitator gave her access and credibility, which she exploited to file hundreds of bogus claims, draining funds meant for legitimate victims.
The Department of Justice, alongside the FBI Miami Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation, led the probe. Wifredo A. Ferrer, then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, FBI Special Agent in Charge, and Kelly R. Jackson, IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge, announced the outcome, emphasizing that fraud against disaster relief funds will be met with full federal prosecution.
The Deepwater Horizon fraud crackdown continues to yield convictions years after the spill, serving as a stark reminder: stealing from victims under the cover of tragedy is a crime with consequences. For Caridad Rioseco Alejandrez, that price is over half a million dollars and four years behind bars.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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