US Attorney's Office
San Juan
Press Release
SAN JUAN, P.R. - On March 2, 2017, a Federal Grand Jury in the District of
Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging José Manuel Abreu-Ramírez and
Milagros De los Santos-De Abreu with obstructing a U.S. Department of Labor
investigation into their failure to pay minimum wage and overtime to their em-
ployees at the restaurants José José and El Catador D’Abreu in violation of the
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Both restaurants were owned and operated
by the defendants and located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodrí-
guez Vélez and Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Mikulka of the U.S. Depart-
ment of Labor, Office of Inspector General, New York Regional Office made
the announcement.
The 25 count Indictment charges Abreu-Ramírez and De los Santos with eight
counts of false statements to a federal agency, three counts of wire fraud, eight
counts of aggravated identity theft and five counts of tampering with a witness,
victim or informant by intimidation, threats, corrupt persuasion or misleading
conduct.
The allegations in the indictment indicate that instead of making payment to
the employees in the amounts the defendants had agreed to pay pursuant to an
investigation conducted by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department
of Labor and the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor,
the defendants made their employees endorse checks that had been issued to
prove compliance with federal law and then withheld the checks from the em-
ployees. Abreu‑Ramírez and De los Santos either cashed or deposited the end-
orsed checks into their own bank accounts and kept the funds for their own be-
nefit. The amounts Abreu‑Ramírez and De los Santos unlawfully retained from
their employees in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was appro-
ximately $23,448.47.
According to the Indictment, on different occasions between April and July, 2014,
Abreu‑Ramírez and De los Santos also procured the signature of U.S. Department
of Labor forms from 20 employees. In those forms the employees were coerced to
falsely represent to the U.S. Department of Labor that they had been paid amounts
owed to satisfy minimum wage and overtime payment obligations under federal
law. Abreu‑Ramírez delivered those forms and other fraudulent documents in per-
son and through email communications to the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S.
Department of Labor knowing that they contained false statements.
The Indictment also alleges that Abreu‑Ramírez and De los Santos forged the sig-
nature of an employee in forms and documents submitted to the Wage and Hour
Division of the U.S. Department of Labor.
“This Indictment is evidence of our commitment to work closely with our law en-
forcement partners to enforce U.S. Department of Labor programs and protect wor-
kers from unscrupulous employers. We will support federal agencies in their efforts
to uphold the workplace protections and wages to which workers are entitled under
federal law,” said Rosa E. Rodríguez-Vélez, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto
Rico. “The United States Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute individuals
who exploit their employees and attempt to conceal their actions by obstructing in-
vestigations into employer compliance with federal law.”
“An important part of the mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investi-
gate alleged obstruction of Department of Labor agencies, including the Wage and
Hour Division. We will continue to work with our Department of Labor and law
enforcement partners to vigorously investigate these types of allegations,” stated
Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Mikulka of the New York Regional office of the
U.S Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.
The investigation was conducted by the United States Department of Labor’s Wa-
ge and Hour Division and Office of Inspector General in coordination with the U-
nited States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico. Assistance has been
provided by the United States Marshal Service and the case is being prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennise N. Longo Quiñones of the Financial Fraud and
Corruption Unit.
Pursuant to the charges, Abreu- Ramírez and De los Santos face potential penalties
of up to five years of imprisonment for making false statements to a federal agency,
up to 20 years of imprisonment for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a mandatory
minimum term of two years of imprisonment for aggravated identity theft, and up
to a term of imprisonment of 20 years for tampering with a witness. Indictments
contain only charges and are not evidence of guilt. Defendants are presumed to be
innocent unless and until proven guilty.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-pr/pr/owners-fine-dining-restaurants-indicted-obstructing-federal-labor-department
