POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - The former Chief Executive Officer of MJ Capital Funding, LLC was indicted on charges of orchestrating an investment Ponzi fraud scheme totaling around $190.7 million from the business.
The South Florida federal grand jury indictment accuses Johanna Michely Garcia, 40, of Broward County, of conspiring to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
MJ Capital Funding, LLC, based in Pompano Beach, offered merchant cash advances (MCAs) to small and medium-sized businesses. The indictment alleges that between October 2020 and Aug. 12, 2021, Garcia, along with Pavel Ramon Ruiz Hernandez and accomplices, fraudulently collected funds from investors under the pretext of financing MCAs. Recruits were also used to attract additional investors, earning a 10% commission.
Garcia appeared in U.S. Magistrate Court on Friday, and a subsequent hearing is scheduled for August 28. If convicted, Garcia could face up to 20 years in prison for each conspiracy, money laundering and mail fraud charge, and up to 10 years for each money laundering offense. Her co-conspirator, Ruiz Hernandez, pleaded guilty in April 2023 and is set for sentencing on September 7.