MIAMI – Michel Duarte Suarez, a 50-year-old Cuban national, has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a scheme from Panama that involved stealing over $800,000 from an elderly victim’s bank account. The operation was conducted with the help of accomplices in South Florida.
Suarez was indicted in September 2023 while residing in Panama City. He was arrested in January 2025 and extradited to South Florida for trial.
Court documents reveal that in March 2022, Suarez disclosed to a confidential informant his access to the bank account of an 82-year-old victim. Suarez executed the fraud by creating and sending fraudulent checks from Panama to South Florida, instructing his co-conspirators to cash them and wire half of the proceeds back to him through his Miami-based company, Online Electronics. The checks bore forged signatures mimicking the victim’s signature on their bank account.
The total amount stolen from the victim’s account was approximately $803,000 over four months.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 29, 2025, before United States District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams in Miami. Suarez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud (Count 1) and aggravated identity theft (Count 4). He faces up to 30 years in prison for Count 1 and an additional mandatory two years for Count 4.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Jason Scalzo of the FDIC-OIG Electronic Crimes Unit; and Special Agent in Charge Rafael Barros of the US Secret Service Miami Field Office.
Assistant United States Attorney Alexander Thor Pogozelski is prosecuting the case, with Assistant United States Attorney Marx Calderon handling asset forfeiture proceedings.
For further details or updates on this case, visit the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls or consult related court documents at www.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 23-CR-20359-WILLIAMS.
