Escambia Mexican Restaurant Owners Charged With Faking Death

September 2, 2010

A federal indictment has been returned charging the husband and wife owners of Mexican restaurants in Escambia County with conspiring to commit a $2 million fraud by faking a death.

The federal indictment alleges that Ismael B. Rodriguez, 45, and his wife, Maria Rodriguez, 41, were involved in a conspiracy to commit mail fraud based upon a fraudulent life insurance claim. The indictment outlines a scheme wherein the defendants traveled to Mexico in 2008 and faked the death of Ismael B. Rodriguez. Maria Rodriguez is alleged to have then returned to the United States with a fraudulent Mexican death certificate in an attempt to collect approximately $2 million worth of life insurance on her husband. In reality, Ismael B. Rodriguez was alive and later located by law enforcement, according to United States Attorney Pamela C. Marsh, Northern District of Florida.

The defendants made their initial appearance Wednesday in federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Miles Davis. Judge Davis ordered that both defendants be subject to electronic home monitoring pending trial. The defendants face up to 20 years imprisonment on each count if convicted.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Florida Department of Financial Services – Fraud Division. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David L. Goldberg.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Rodriquez own the Cazadores Mexican Restaurants in the Pensacola area.

Comments

4 Responses to “Escambia Mexican Restaurant Owners Charged With Faking Death”

  1. David Huie Green on September 4th, 2010 9:56 am

    Sam Walton offered American made goods if they were available. Most customers still bought the cheapest item they thought would do the job and it was not always made in America. On the other hand, he actually financed the start-up of many American competitors so he made even more money if they could compete.

    Nobody’s stopping others from following his example.

    David for recognizing opportunities

  2. Concerned Century Citizen on September 4th, 2010 12:14 am

    I wonder if either one of these people are legal. Nowadays we never know. We have so many illegal aliens in this country. I think they should be charged and sent to Mexico to live and I’m not prejudice. But, I’ve seen busloads of illegal aliens taking jobs from American Citizens. Pretty soon our country will no longer be owned by Americans but by foreign countries. When you grocery shopping at stores like Wal-Mart for instance, it’s so hard to find anything that’s American made. I believe Sam Walton is turning over and over in his grave. He was proud to say”American Made”.

  3. Terri Sanders on September 3rd, 2010 5:16 pm

    Guess sales were a little slow…no thats not right…THEY were a little slow!!!

  4. Angiā™« on September 2nd, 2010 8:40 pm

    WOW! What in the world will they think of next?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News