Monday, October 27, 2008

Wachovia VP Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering

BizJournals reports that Javier Ortiz, a Wachovia Bank assistant vice president, has leaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a 2006 Medicare fraud scheme.

In 2005 Ortiz was introduced to Angel Castillo, who has already been sentenced to serve 19 years in prison for his role in the $48 million Medicare and money-laundering scheme. Ortiz used his position to open up business checking accounts for Castillo’s medical companies. Castillo would submit fraudulent claims to the Medicare program, and then they would deposit the Medicare payments across the various companies’ accounts.

Castillo would pay Ortiz lump sums of cash in exchange for removing computer holds on the checks and opening the accounts. Ortiz faces up to 12 years in prison.



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