Utah Man Sentenced for Wire Fraud Schemes

A Utah man was sentenced yesterday to 108 months in prison for wire fraud, impersonating a federal officer, aggravated identity theft, and making a false statement.

The following is according to court documents and statements made in court: from 2018 through 2020, Santiago Garcia Gutierrez (Garcia), of Salt Lake City, defrauded a single victim out of more than $2.8 million by falsely representing that he was a confidential informant with the Department of Homeland Security. He also falsely represented that he could acquire, at discounted prices, exotic cars, planes, and vessels that had been seized by the U.S. government through forfeiture. Garcia falsely induced the victim to use him as an intermediary to receive the money that the victim believed was then being used to purchase what turned out to be non-existent luxury assets. To convince his victim the scheme was legitimate, Garcia contacted the victim on numerous occasions via text message from multiple phone numbers, falsely claiming to be a confidential government informant, federal agent and, at times, Garcia’s own attorney.

In addition, from 2019 through 2024, Garcia  defrauded eight additional victims across the country. To execute these other frauds, Garcia falsely induced victims to invest money into federal oil wells in which he had an ownership interest, promising large returns on investment. The victims never realized any profits, however, because Garcia diverted the investment funds for his own benefit. To effectuate these schemes and lend them legitimacy, Garcia again assumed the identity of his attorney. In total, Garcia defrauded these victims of more than $900,000.

Finally, Garcia did not pay royalties to the federal government on the sale of oil extracted from the wells, despite knowing that he had a duty to do so.

In addition to the term of imprisonment, U.S. District Judge Howard C. Nielson Jr. for the District of Utah ordered Garcia to pay $3,795,930.60 in restitution to the victims of his crimes, and to forfeit $2,853,789.27.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Karen E. Kelly of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti for the District of Utah, and Special Agent in Charge Carissa Messick of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Phoenix Field Office made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation’s Phoenix Field Office and the EPA investigated the case.

Senior Litigation Counsel Richard M. Rolwing and former Trial Attorney Erika Suhr of the Tax Division prosecuted the case.