MIAMI – A Broward County woman is facing 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty to leading a $190.7 million Ponzi scheme.
Johanna Michely Garcia, 41, from Broward County, was the former Chief Executive Officer of MJ Capital Funding, LLC.
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Garcia pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on July 16.
According to court documents, the conspiracy involved Garcia leading others, including Pavel Ramon Ruiz Hernandez, in an investment Ponzi fraud scheme totaling approximately $190,700,000.
According to court records, Garcia’s MJ Capital Funding engaged in providing merchant cash advances, or MCAs, a type of short-term financing typically used by small businesses. Beginning in October 2020, and continuing through August 2021, Garcia conspired with others to fraudulently solicit money from investors to fund MJ Capital Funding’s MCAs.
MJ Capital Funding was shut down by the FBI in the Fall of 2021.
According to a media release, Ruiz Hernandez was charged in August 2022, pled guilty in April 2023, and was sentenced in September 2023 to 110 months’ imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.
Garcia is expected to be sentenced on Sept. 20.