A 39-year-old Colombian national was arrested in Houston, facing charges of government funds theft, false representation of a U.S. citizen, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei's office announced. Javier Alfonso Nunez Suarez is accused of fraudulently obtaining Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits and Medicaid benefits by impersonating a U.S. citizen since February 2016, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The unsealed indictment from May 15 laid out the case against Suarez, revealing that he allegedly received the benefits under false pretenses over a nine-year span, during which he collected more than $588,000; this was asserted in a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was scheduled for an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Yvonne Ho. His arrest puts a spotlight on the issue of identity theft and the intricate methods some will use to exploit government systems for financial gain, the financial gain that often comes at taxpayers' expense.
Prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen M. Lansden, and investigated by the SSA-Office of the Inspector General, Suarez faces a potential decennial stint in prison for each of the leading charges, with the possibility of coughing up to $250,000 in fines, as well as a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft which must be served after any other sentence, as noted by the U.S. Attorney's Office news release.
