FBI arrests Florida man in fraud case, suspect to be charged in Missouri

A Florida man accused of participating in a fraudulent scheme that cost multiple victims more than $550,000 was arrested on Friday.

Michael P. Garcia, 36, of the Miami area, was indicted on December 18, 2024, in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

According to the indictment, Garcia and other conspirators contacted victims and made false claims to obtain cash or valuables. In one instance, they posed as representatives from a victim’s financial institution and falsely stated that the victim’s accounts had been compromised and used for illegal activity. The conspirators then convinced the victim to provide money to prevent further fraudulent activity. Couriers were sent to collect the victims’ valuables.

Garcia is accused of recruiting and compensating a courier who collected $20,000 in cash and gold bars from two victims in Brooklyn, New York, on October 30, 2023. Two days later, the same courier retrieved an additional $30,000 in cash, according to the indictment. In November 2023, Garcia allegedly directed the courier to Summerfield, North Carolina, to collect gold bars from another victim. That same month, the courier was sent to retrieve approximately $200,000 in gold bars from a 76-year-old victim in Fenton, Missouri, who had already provided the conspirators with $20,000 in cryptocurrency, the indictment states. The courier has since been arrested and charged.

Garcia is expected to be transported to St. Louis to face charges.

The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Clow is prosecuting it.

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FBI arrests Florida man in fraud case, suspect to be charged in Missouri