Four men convicted in $4.8 million dollar fraud scheme

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Four Florida men have been convicted in Providence federal court for their roles in a widespread conspiracy to use stolen personal identifying information (PII) to fraudulently obtain more than $4.8 million by defrauding banks and federal and state agencies.

The four men pleaded guilty in the scheme to use stolen PII to open bank accounts for fraudulently obtained government benefits and payments, such as unemployment and pandemic related benefits, as well as submitting fraudulent applications using others’ names to obtain tax returns, stimulus payments and disaster relief funds.

James Legerme, 33, of Sunrise, Fl and Allen Bien-Aime, 33, of Lehigh Acres, Fl, each pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Junior Mertile, 35, of Miramar, Fl and Tony Mertile, 33, of Miramar, FL, each pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The defendants agreed to forfeit $1.2 million in funds from their conspiracy, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Rolex watches and assorted jewelry and over $1.1 million in cash from the residences of Tony and Junior Mertile and James Legerme.

Each defendant also agreed that each is jointly and several liable for $4.8 million in restitution to be paid to agencies and financial institutions that were defrauded.

All four men are scheduled to be sentenced August 26-27.