Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that five people have been charged in what detectives call an orchestrated plan to cheat the state’s public assistance program by exploiting stolen Electronic Benefit Transfer and personal identity information.
“Florida is not going to tolerate organized schemes that steal taxpayer-funded benefits intended for Florida families,” Uthmeier stated. “We will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to identify every individual connected to this scheme and hold them accountable.”
The Orlando Police Department’s investigation revealed that the defendants used stolen personal identity information and EBT card data from several victims to purchase high-resale items such as Monster and Red Bull energy drinks, coffee, bottled water, and other things. Investigators said the supplies were then resold for cash as part of a larger scheme to siphon taxpayer-funded nutritional benefits intended for eligible Florida families. The program covered Orange and Seminole counties.
The defendants named are Carlos Ruben Gomez Jimenez, Maite Lazara Mesa Labrada, Carlos Luis Diaz Jimenez, Enrique Gonzalez, and Luis Gonzalez Dominguez. According to immigration documents, Gomez Jimenez and Mesa Labrada entered the US illegally in 2024.
All five defendants face charges of organized plot to defraud (less than $20,000) and public assistance fraud ($200 or more but less than $20,000).
Gomez Jimenez, Mesa Labrada, and Diaz Jimenez have also been charged with criminal use of personal identifiable information involving at least ten EBT accounts. Dominguez has been charged with criminal use of personal identity information. Diaz Jimenez and Enrique Gonzalez have been charged with trafficking in stolen items.
Authorities said Diaz Jimenez faces up to 40 years in the Florida Department of Corrections. Gomez Jimenez, Gonzalez, and Mesa Labrada face up to 25 years in prison, while Dominguez faces up to 15 years. Diaz Jimenez, Mesa Labrada, and Gomez Jimenez each face a three-year obligatory minimum term for illicit use of personal identity information involving ten or more victims.
The Orlando Police Department and the Office of Statewide Prosecution continue to investigate, and further charges may be issued as the case proceeds. Scott Strauss, Special Counsel for Public Assistance Fraud, is prosecuting the case in the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida.
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