Santiago Garcia, Wire Fraud, Utah 2020

A Salt Lake City man has pleaded guilty to a string of high-stakes wire fraud schemes that bilked victims out of over $3.6 million.

Santiago Garcia, 47, pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud, impersonating a federal officer, aggravated identity theft and making false statements.

According to court documents, from 2018 through 2020, Garcia defrauded a victim of more than $2.8 million by falsely promising he could acquire at discounted prices exotic cars, planes and vessels that had been seized by the U.S. government through forfeiture.

Garcia, who falsely induced the victim to use him as an intermediary to receive the money, contacted the victim on numerous occasions via text message from multiple phone numbers, falsely claiming to be a confidential government informant, federal agent or Garcia’s own attorney.

In addition, from 2019 through 2024, Garcia defrauded eight additional victims across the country, inducing them to invest money into federal oil wells in which he had an ownership interest, promising large returns on investment.

The victims never realized any profits, however, because Garcia diverted the investment funds for his own benefit, again assuming the identity of his attorney to effectuate these schemes and lend them legitimacy.

Garcia also failed to pay royalties to the federal government on the sale of oil extracted from the wells, despite knowing that he had a duty to do so.

Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, 2025 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, five years in prison for each count of making a false statement, three years in prison for each count of impersonating a federal officer, and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.

He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties.

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