Michel Duarte Suárez, a 50-year-old Cuban citizen, pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami to leading a bank fraud and identity theft scheme that resulted in him stealing more than $800.000 from an 82-year-old woman living in the United States.
According to court documents, Duarte Suárez directed the operation from Panama City, where he resided, and orchestrated the sending of more than 80 forged checks that his accomplices cashed at various Florida banks. Half of the proceeds from the fraud were transferred to his Miami-based company, Online Electronics, to give the funds a legitimate appearance.
The Cuban was indicted in September 2023 and captured in January 2025 in Panama, following an extradition order issued by U.S. authorities. He was subsequently transferred to South Florida to face federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
The Prosecutor's Office revealed that Duarte Suárez has an extensive criminal record, linked to offenses such as the sale of stolen cars, credit card cloning, and massive document forgery. In November 2019, he was arrested in an apartment in the Paitilla neighborhood of Panama City during the police operation known as "Emperor," which dismantled a network dedicated to similar frauds.
According to court documents, in March 2022, the suspect told a person he had access to a bank account belonging to an 82-year-old woman. From Panama, he sent several forged checks to the woman's bank in South Florida, then withdrew the money and transferred half of it to her through his Miami-based company, Online Electronics. These 80 checks bore the victim's forged signature, facilitating the withdrawal of $803.146 over a four-month period.
The sentencing is scheduled for September 29th in the City of the Sun before Judge Kathleen M. Williams. The plaintiffs are composed of Assistant U.S. Attorney Marx Calderón, who is handling the asset forfeiture case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Thor Pogozelski, who is handling the case. The trial continues, and Duarte Suárez now faces a possible sentence of up to 30 years in prison, plus an additional two years of mandatory time for the crimes committed.
In Panama, the defendant also committed other crimes, including fraud and criminal conspiracy. In a search conducted by the National Customs Authority and the Police Investigation Directorate following a complaint from a person, they determined that he had a pickup truck belonging to the victim, who had paid $20.000 by check.
As the investigation continued, authorities realized it was a broader fraud scheme involving three other vehicles from the Colón municipality. Therefore, a precautionary measure was applied against the Cuban man on charges of credit card misuse and credit card cloning, among others. During the search, blank cards, printers, hard drives, $1700, and other items were seized from the vehicle.
This case adds to the growing concern among U.S. authorities about the rise in financial fraud targeting senior citizens, a segment of the population considered especially vulnerable to sophisticated scams like the one perpetrated by Duarte Suárez.
