A Salt Lake City man pleaded guilty today to wire fraud, impersonating a federal officer, aggravated identity theft and making false statements.
According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2018 through 2020, Santiago Garcia Gutierrez defrauded a victim of more than $2.8 million by falsely promising 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 the victim believed was being used to purchase the non-existent luxury assets. To lure his victim into participating in the scheme, Garcia contacted the victim on numerous occasions via text message from multiple phone numbers, falsely claiming to be a confidential government informant, federal agent or Garcia’s own attorney.
In addition, from 2019 through 2024, Garcia defrauded eight additional victims across the country. To execute those frauds, Garcia 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 to lend them legitimacy, Garcia again assumed the identity of his attorney. In total, Garcia defrauded these victims of more than $775,000.
Finally, Garcia also 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.
Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of making a false statement, a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each count of impersonating a federal officer and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft. He also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, U.S. Attorney Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah and Special Agent in Charge Carissa Messick of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI)’s Phoenix Field Office made the announcement.
IRS-CI, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General and the Environmental Protection Agency are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Richard M. Rolwing and Erika V. Suhr of the Tax Division are prosecuting the case.