This could be the plot for a new film. Let’s call it “Ocean’s Minus 11.” The number is not just a play on the Rat Pack film, but it reflects the IQ points of anyone who assumes they could defraud over $27 million from the United States Treasury.
Nevertheless, four men set their sights high, only to wind up hitting the dirt — good and hard. Go big or go home, I guess. Instead, they’re going to jail for quite some time.
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.
Four Men Arrested After Attempting to Cash Stolen Treasury Check Worth $28Mhttps://t.co/BqxOZuuUo2#blacktwitter #crime #crimenews #crimewatch #black pic.twitter.com/xiZiWuOPmR
— Black News (@BlackNews) November 19, 2025
The tax refund check totaling $27,910,676.69 was issued to an unnamed company in Richmond, Virginia, and had never been cashed. It seems this brain trust missed President Donald Trump’s executive order phasing out the use of paper checks.
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 U.S. Department of the Treasury executed this order on September 30. So, had these smooth criminals done their research, they would have known floating any government check, particularly one of this amount, would put them under scrutiny.
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.”
Even if you were the principal who closed your business, wouldn’t you be smart enough to leave one account open for a while? Why would you need a “banker” that you are not acquainted with to distribute said funds among your colleagues?
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.”
Urgency and greed. A tell of any amateur, and probably par for the course for this treasury agent.
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.”
Villanueva’s partner in crime, Jorge Cruz Garcia — who was supposed to be “outside of Florida” — showed up an hour later.
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.”
The other two stooges showed up in an expensive car. Eric Boxie pretended to be an “accountant with extensive banking experience.” Which begs more questions about why Villanueva needed this “banker”/undercover agent in the first place. After a dance between all the parties, they did a handoff with the sizeable refund check to the undercover treasury inspector. That’s when they found out that the jig was up.
According to the complaint, Boxie and Bedford showed up in a white Maserati with Virginia plates at around 1:20 p.m. and Garcia met them outside.
Authorities said after the three entered the eatery, Boxie “introduced himself as an accountant with extensive financial and banking experience, having worked with two tax preparation firms” in Houston.
The group discussed logistics for structuring payments to “avoid any red flags” and eventually hatched a plan with the undercover officer, the complaint states.
Afterward, Bedford went to the Maserati and took out a white envelope, bringing it inside and giving it to the undercover officer, investigators said.
After the officer opened it and confirmed the check was inside, agents with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service moved in to take the men into custody, according to the complaint.
Another Florida businessman was just sentenced to four years in prison for the theft of government property for a similar scheme. Just from the information in the criminal complaint against Villanueva, Garcia, Boxie, and Bedford, two charges will be lodged against them:
- Conspiracy to defraud the United States
- Theft of government property.
There is the question of what priors (if any) are on these men’s books. Despite this epic level of stupidity, one can only surmise that this isn’t their first rodeo. Criminal masterminds Villanueva, Bedford, Garcia, and Boxie are being held at the main jail of the Broward Sheriff’s Department and are scheduled to be arraigned before a federal magistrate judge on Wednesday.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy RedState’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use the promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your VIP membership!
