Posted on 11/17/2025 11:35:16 AM PST by V_TWIN
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Four men are accused of attempting to cash a U.S. Treasury check worth more than $27 million, authorities said. They were arrested at a South Florida restaurant on Nov. 10 after they unwittingly included an undercover officer in their scheme.
According to a federal criminal complaint, agents arrested Carlos Manuel Villaneuva, 37, of Hialeah, Florida; Eric Renard Bedford, 44, of Houston; Jorge Cruz Garcia, 30, of Katy, Texas; and John Ryan Boxie, 43, of Houston.
The four men face one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of theft of government property.
The tax refund check, which totaled $27,910,676.69, was supposed to go to an unnamed company in Richmond, Virginia, had not been cashed.
According to the criminal complaint, “a source of information” told federal agents that Villaneuva had access to the check. On Nov. 5, Villaneuva opened talks with a man, called “Banker” in the complaint, who he believed could help him cash the check. The “Banker” was an undercover officer with the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
(Excerpt) Read more at actionnewsjax.com ...
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Have at it
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Fifties, please.
I’ll wager that the median IQ of these four is 65...with the highest being 66 and the lowest being 64.
Someone needs to give the IRS a primer on electronic funds transfers.
Mailing a check that size seems stupid.
I’ll take it in pennies. Those are a collector’s item now.
The stupidity! It reminds of the fellow who tried to cash a stolen check made out to “Roadway Express”. He had a fake ID with that name. The teller, without skipping a beat told him, “You wait right here Mr. Express, while I go to process your check.” Of course she called the police.
I suspect the combined IQ does not exceed 65. Good grief.
A real brain trust right there. LOL
Combined? Probably not. With an IQ of 15 one doesn’t even know how a doornob works.
Boys, boys, boys. You’ve skated through life on your good looks. But you also needed smarts to pull off a caper like this. Tsk tsk
“The four men face one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States...”
I can name a good 500 (out of 541) members of Congress that should be charged with the very same crime!
I’ve had U.S. Treasury checks in my hands before, from 12 mill to 25 mill, but I never tried to cash them. Crazy stupid people.
The stupidity! - years ago in Florida a bank robber handed a teller a note saying she needed to give him $10,000 or something like that... She told him the cash drawers were locked but she could give him a cashiers check. He agreed and she said she needed his name - and he gave it to her.
I wouldn’t have cashed a $20 check for any of them.
Yo, yo! Y’all got any uh dem 27 million dollar bills? Who be the president on da front?
This has the makings of a Cohen Bros. movie.
Thanks for posting their pics, I forgot.
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Ocean’s 11 they ain’t. 😏
YGTBKM!...................
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