Cuban Fraud Ring Busted

Nashville, TN – In a major blow to organized crime, eight members of a Cuban fraud ring have been charged with conspiracy and bank fraud for operating a scheme that resulted in over $700,000 in financial loss. The group, which used card skimming devices and stolen checks to carry out their crimes, pleaded guilty and several have been sentenced.

According to court documents, the defendants traveled from the Miami, Florida area to middle Tennessee to steal identities and bank account information. They placed card skimming devices on gas pumps around Nashville, capturing account information from customers’ cards. The stolen account numbers were then used to create re-encoded bankcards, which were used to purchase electronics and other goods from retailers.

The fraud ring also stole business checks from mailboxes and infiltrated business bank accounts to create fraudulent checks. These checks were made payable to defendants’ aliases and cashed at various financial institutions in the middle Tennessee area and elsewhere.

US Attorney Don Cochran announced the charges, saying, ‘This was a significant scheme that caused substantial financial loss to victims.’ The investigation was led by the FBI, LaVergne Police Department, and Murfreesboro Police Department.

Charged in the conspiracy are:

Alexis Salgueiro-Rodriguez, 27 – sentenced to 60 months in prison;
Yasel Nodarse, 29 – sentenced to 25 months in prison;
Daniel Martinez-Mazon, 39 and Luis Enrique Vazquez-Pedroso, 31 – each sentenced to 23 months in prison;
Alain Rivero-Rodriguez, 37 – sentenced to 22 months in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Siji Moore and Stephanie N. Toussaint. Three defendants, Yuseff Antonio Elias, 32, Emilio Rafael-Gomez, 31, and Oscar Diaz de la Cruz, 30, are awaiting sentencing. The total financial loss is estimated to be over $700,000.