Orlando Pair Sentenced to Prison for $148 Million Payroll Fraud

U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger sentenced Rene Mauricio Escobar, 55, to four years and nine months in federal prison and Juana Nelida Escobar, 36, to two years in prison on May 6 in Jacksonville. Both Orlando residents were convicted of conspiracy to commit tax fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud through a construction payroll scheme that reached $148 million in total volume.

The operation affected the Internal Revenue Service through withheld payroll taxes that went unpaid and workers’ compensation insurers through misreported payroll figures. Court records set the IRS loss at $37,174,388, the exact amount ordered as restitution. No separate restitution figure was set for the insurers in this judgment.

The sentences replace the defendants’ prior status with binding obligations. Rene Escobar and Juana Escobar must report to Bureau of Prisons facilities once designated, a process that begins within weeks. The restitution order creates an enforceable debt to the IRS that the court will collect through asset seizure or wage garnishment during and after incarceration.

The IRS now holds a documented claim for $37 million that reduces the net revenue shortfall from this scheme. Workers’ compensation insurers can cite the criminal judgment in any separate recovery actions. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida closes its work on the case, while the Bureau of Prisons assumes custody and the Probation Office supervises post-release payments.

This sentencing follows the standard sequence for federal tax and wire fraud cases in the Middle District of Florida, where construction payroll matters have produced multiple similar judgments in recent years. The announcement was issued by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe through the Department of Justice.