Four men were arrested in Broward County after attempting to cash a nearly $28 million U.S. Treasury check and unknowingly included an undercover agent in their plan. The sting unfolded at a Pembroke Pines restaurant where federal agents moved in after the suspects handed over the stolen check, and the criminal complaint lays out conversations about splitting proceeds, creating accounts, and trying to avoid detection. Charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States and theft of government property, and the men are now in Broward custody awaiting arraignment. The case highlights how high-dollar paper checks are now obvious targets and why federal efforts to curb check fraud are intensifying.
This episode sounds like a movie caper gone wrong, but it played out in real life with real consequences. Four men — Carlos Manuel Villanueva, Eric Renard Bedford, Jorge Cruz Garcia, and John Ryan Boxie — met what they thought was a fixer who could negotiate a massive refund check. They believed the company named on the check was closed, so they sought outside help to move nearly $28 million in funds. That decision brought them straight into an undercover operation instead of a payday.
Four men were arrested in Broward on Monday after they plotted to cash a nearly $28 million U.S. Treasury check but unknowingly included an undercover agent in their scheme, according to federal court records.
Federal agents converged on Carlos Manuel Villanueva, 37, Eric Renard Bedford, 44, Jorge Cruz Garcia, 30, and John Ryan Boxie shortly after they exchanged the stolen check at a Pembroke Pines restaurant on Monday, according to a criminal complaint. All four face one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of theft of government property.
Villaneuva lives in Hialeah, while the other three men are from Texas.
The check in question was a tax refund totaling 27,910,676.69 made out to a company in Richmond, Virginia, and it had never been cashed. The conspirators apparently ignored recent federal moves to phase out paper Treasury checks, measures justified by the government as a way to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse. That shift notes Treasury checks are far more vulnerable to loss, theft, and alteration than electronic transfers and that maintaining paper processing cost the government hundreds of millions annually. In short, floating a huge paper Treasury check is now a glaring red flag.
The move was billed as a crackdown on waste, fraud and abuse, as well as a step toward greater efficiency. According to the order, “Treasury checks are 16 times more likely to be reported lost or stolen, returned undeliverable, or altered than an electronic funds transfer.” The White House also noted the rise in check fraud and added that maintaining the infrastructure for paper check processing cost $657 million in 2024.
The Department of the Treasury implemented the policy ending routine paper checks on September 30, so anyone attempting to trade a large government check now risks special scrutiny. Investigators say Villanueva reached out on Nov. 5 to what he thought was a banker who could help negotiate the check, but it was an undercover officer with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The criminal complaint describes how Villanueva said the recipient company was closed and implied that legitimate deposit channels were unavailable, which is why they wanted outside help.
Investigators said Villanueva was working with Eric Renard Bedford, 44, and John Ryan Boxie, 43, both of Houston, and Jorge Cruz Garcia, 30, of Katy, Texas.
Authorities said on Nov. 5, Villanueva contacted someone who he thought was a “banker” who could help the quartet negotiate the check. But they said it was actually an undercover officer with the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
According to the complaint, Villanueva told the undercover officer that the company was “closed,” which they “believed prevented them from cashing it through legitimate means.”
Conversations recorded in the complaint show the suspects tried to manufacture urgency, claiming the check would “expire” and even boasting access to other large checks. Villanueva discussed distributing proceeds and said he expected 20 percent, roughly $5.6 million, and asked the undercover officer to set up three accounts to disburse funds. That kind of detail is textbook for investigators: talk about splitting proceeds and structuring transfers and you practically hand them a roadmap to charges.
Investigators said he also told the officer that the check would “expire” on Wednesday, “creating a sense of urgency,” and that the three men were outside of Florida and had possession of the check. According to the complaint, Villanueva also told the officer that the group had “access to other checks of a large amount and can get more.”
The meeting at the Pembroke Pines restaurant played out exactly as the complaint describes: Villanueva met the undercover agent, discussed logistics, and later coordinated a handoff. Jorge Cruz Garcia arrived claiming expertise in negotiating stolen checks and said he operated a business to funnel proceeds. Two other suspects showed up in a Maserati, one claiming to be an accountant with banking experience, and they attempted to hand the envelope to the undercover officer.
After confirming that he had seen the check, investigators said Villanueva coordinated a face-to-face meeting with the officer at the unnamed Pembroke Pines restaurant.
Villanueva, authorities said, “discussed the planned distribution of the proceeds” and said that he would get 20%, or roughly $5.6 million.
“He further asked the (undercover officer) to create three separate accounts to disburse the funds and discussed methods to ‘take all the money out’ over several months,” it states.
Villanueva and the undercover officer agreed to meet Monday at the unnamed Pembroke Pines restaurant, the complaint states.
Investigators said Villanueva arrived there at around 11:45 a.m., met with the agent and “discussed how the check would be negotiated and divided among the parties involved.”
When Bedford produced the envelope and the undercover officer confirmed the check was inside, federal agents stepped in and arrested the four. The complaint lists two charges: Conspiracy to defraud the United States and Theft of government property. Sentences for similar schemes have included multi-year federal prison terms, so these defendants face serious exposure if convicted. For now, they remain held at the Broward County jail pending arraignment before a federal magistrate judge.
Calling himself “David,” investigators said “he claimed to have extensive experience in negotiating stolen checks, particularly United States Treasury checks” and “also mentioned that he operates a business that is used to funnel the proceeds from these stolen checks.”
Do the crime and Now they can do the time! Outrageous!