A 68-year-old Dominican man has been handed a sentence by a federal court in Boston for dealing in over $150,000 worth of bogus U.S. bills, the Justice Department announced. Ruben Dario Diaz Sanchez, after pleading guilty to a slew of counterfeiting charges earlier this year, was given time served, which amounted to roughly one year behind bars as of April 3, 2024, according to a statement released by federal authorities.
Charges against Diaz Sanchez, who was residing in the Dominican Republic during the time of his crimes, included four counts of counterfeit acts committed outside of the United States and one count each of dealing in counterfeit obligations, securities, and conspiracy. His co-conspirator, Maximo Morillo, also faced the music with a time served sentence on February 15, 2024.
The indictment, dropped by a federal grand jury back in October 2019, details how the duo orchestrated the counterfeit scheme. Diaz Sanchez roped in an unidentified individual in the United States around October 2014 to smuggle the fake currency stateside. Morillo operated as the intermediary with the printers churning out the phony cash in the Dominican Republic.
From May 2015 to January 2016, the conspirators moved as many as 1,590 counterfeit $100 bills with a total face value of $159,000, as per the indictments. After serving his sentence, Diaz Sanchez was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to begin deportation proceedings.
The Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, alongside Michael J. Krol, the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, credited Dominican Republic law enforcement for their valuable assistance and highlighted the efforts of the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs in clinching the arrest and extradition of Diaz Sanchez. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit was the lead prosecutor for the case.
