Boca Isles Resident Indicted For Fraud Targeting Elderly

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaPost.com) — 6 people, including 69 year old Boca Isles resident Walter Valdivia, have been indicted on fraud and money laundering charges for their alleged participation in a fraud scheme targeting elderly people.

The Department of Justice (U.S. Attorney’s Office – Northern District of Georgia) has formally filed charges on the 6 individuals, including Valdivia, for wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and money laundering. It is reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Elizabeth McBath is prosecuting this case.

U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine, the  said “This case involves an alleged scheme to defraud victims — many of whom are elderly — out of their hard-earned savings,”. Erskine went on to say “It is a particularly egregious type of fraud that is becoming an all-too-common occurrence. It involves dishonest individuals around the world, including in the United States, scaring good people with lies and then cheating them out of their money.”.

“These indictments send a solid message that my office will continue to pursue perpetrators of these vicious Social Security-related imposter scams designed to target and harm vulnerable people, including the elderly,” said Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration. “I thank the Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration criminal investigators for their significant efforts; additionally, I thank the many law enforcement agencies for their substantial contributions to this major investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecuting this case.”

The defendants are accused of participating in a a conspiracy to defraud victims in the US. Many of the victims are elderly.  It is reported that the conspiracy generally started with robocalls. You know the ones. Type type of call where someone says “hello, I am officer Jones from the IRS. You have an outstanding debt with us.”, etc. They will generally go on to say “Pay us today with Apple gift cards” or something similar. Sadly, people do fall for these scams.

These robocallers would leave their threatening voicemails and when the alleged victim would call the number on the voicemail they would then be connected to the alleged scammer — many of whom would be located in India. The scammer on the phone would claim to work for the US government or some other company.

In the case of the scammer pretending to work for the government, they would typically say that the victim was in some trouble. Many times they would pretend to be the Social Security Administration and claim that the victim’s Social Security Number has been compromised. The alleged scammer would then tell the victim that they would need to pay something immediately or they would be arrested. It is reported that the scammers would even use the victim’s actual Social Security Numbers in some cases.

In the case where the alleged scammer claimed to represent a company they would tell the victim that they were entitled to some company refund. The scammer would then convince the victim to download some malicious software to their computer which they would use for unauthorized remote access. The scammer would then manipulate the victim’s bank accounts to make it appear that they were refunded too much money and that the victim now had to return money back to the alleged scammer or they would be in trouble. Many times money would be transferred to bank accounts owned by the companies listed in the the indictment.

It is reported that the companies listed in the indictment did little or no legitimate business. They are reported to be in receipt of the funds the victim pays as part of these scams. It is also reported that the defendants then laundered the fraudulently acquired funds through various accounts.

Valdivia is listed on the indictment as having created two companies:

• Achieve Capital Group LLC
• ACG Accounts Inc.

Interestingly, In June of 2021 one of Valdivia’s company’s, ACG Accounts Inc., submitted paperwork to Florida’s Department Of State to remove Walter Valdivia and add Luis Marchena as president. In July of 2021 the other company alleged to be involved, ‘ACHIEVE CAPITAL GROUP LLC’, submitted paperwork to remove Fortunata Espinoza as the presedident to be replaced again by Luis Marchena.

Walter J Valdivia (defendant) is listed the following Boca Raton address as the principal address for “Achieve Capital LLC” — a residence in Boca Isles:

19712 Dinner Key Dr.
Boca Raton, FL 33428

The house in Boca Isles at that address claims is owned by Rafael Del Carpio. According to his LinkedIn profile, Del Carpio is the “Managing Partner at Achieve Capital LLC”.

Both Fortunata Espinoza and Luis Marchena are listed as having the following Boca Raton address:

9907 Three Lakes Circle
Boca Raton, FL 33428

We wish to remind our readers again that indictments are still just allegations. The defendants are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Elizabeth McBath is prosecuting this case and it is her job to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

We will follow this case and provide updates as more comes out of this indictment.

SOURCE: US Attorney’s Office – Northern District of Georgia