Havana/Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres, a Cuban who applied for naturalization on August 15, 2015 and was granted three months later, lost US citizenship for lying and being found guilty of money laundering. According to the ruling of federal judge Cecilia Altonaga, in Miami, the woman hid her participation in the $5.3 million fraud at the Miccosukee Resort & Gaming casino, orchestrated between January 29, 2011 and May 27, 2015.
The United States District Court for Southern Florida ruled that Acosta Torres “obtained his citizenship illegally.” In addition, she states that she conspired with her husband, Yohander Jorrin Melhen, to launder money from the scam.
According to investigations, four casino workers: Michel Aleu, 41, Lester Lavin (43), Yohander Jorrin Melhen (42) and Leonard Betancourt (46), were in charge of manipulating electronic gaming machines to generate credit vouchers that were then exchanged for cash at ATMs at the casino headquarters.
The defendants involved the wives María Del Pilar Aleu (39), Anisleydi Vergel Hermida (30), Milagros Marile Acosta Torres (33) and Yusmary Shriley Durán (40) in the plot.
Acosta Torres He was in charge of opening bank accounts at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to deposit the cash that Jorrin Melhen brought him from the casino. “Between 2011 and 2014, the defendant deposited at least $39,863 in cash in one account and $16,830 in the other,” the investigation states.
Acosta Torres was in charge of opening bank accounts at JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to deposit the cash that Jorrin Melhen brought him from the casino.
The same scheme was followed by the other wives of the casino workers. Although no data is provided on the amounts that Del Pilar Aleu, Vergel Hermida and Shriley Durán laundered, the total amount defrauded exceeds 5 million dollars.
The money obtained through this modus operandi The couple used it to “buy a home in Miami, three vehicles and college prepayment plans for their children.”
In the midst of the million-dollar fraud, the migrant requested naturalization. The federal judge emphasized that, both in filling out Form N-400 and in the interview under oath, she denied having committed any type of crime. “On her naturalization application, which she signed under penalty of perjury, the defendant marked ‘No’ in response to question 22 of Part 11, which stated: ‘Have you committed, assisted in committing, or attempted to commit any crime or infraction for which you have not been arrested?’” he said.
In July 2019, the authorities issued a formal accusation against Acosta Torres for the crime of money laundering. Six months later, he pleaded guilty and signed a “Stipulated Statement of Facts,” in which he agreed to have laundered $147,970 knowing that the money was stolen from the casino.
The migrant was sentenced to spend six months in prison and another 36 months of supervised release. In addition to restoring the amount per wash. His sentence does not include possible deportation.
