The Justice Department has filed a civil complaint in the Southern District of Florida seeking to revoke the citizenship of Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres, a Cuba-born Miami-Dade resident, accusing her of hiding a role in a money-laundering scheme tied to Miccosukee Resort & Gaming before she became a U.S. citizen in 2015.
The complaint, brought under 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), asks a court to set aside the naturalization decision and cancel Certificate of Naturalization No. 37676249. The department says citizenship may be revoked if it was illegally procured or obtained through concealment of a material fact or willful misrepresentation.
The filing says Acosta Torres married Johander Jorrin Melhen in 2009. Melhen worked as an employee and licensee at Miccosukee Resort & Gaming from 2007 through May 2015, and from 2011 through 2015 he and three other employees and licensees are accused of causing electronic gaming machines at Miccosukee Casino to generate false credit vouchers that were exchanged for cash, embezzling about $5.3 million.
Prosecutors say Acosta Torres and Melhen then laundered at least $147,970 in proceeds from the fraud from January 2011 through about October 2018. Acosta Torres opened checking and savings accounts at JPMorgan Chase in 2011 as the sole signatory, deposited at least $39,863 into one account and at least $16,830 into the other, and structured some deposits to stay below $10,000 in a day to avoid reporting requirements.
Her naturalization application came on 19 August 2015, while the alleged conspiracy was still active. On her N-400, she checked “No” to whether she had ever committed, assisted in committing or attempted to commit a crime or offense for which she was not arrested, and she repeated that answer under oath at a USCIS interview on 3 November; the agency approved the application that day, and she took the oath of allegiance on 6 November.
Her criminal case followed. She was indicted on 16 July 2019, pleaded guilty on 31 January 2020 to conspiracy to commit money laundering, and was sentenced to six months in prison, 36 months of supervised release and restitution of $147,970, along with forfeiture of her interest in various properties.
A later CiberCuba report said the laundered money was also used to buy a Miami home, three vehicles and prepaid college plans for her children. The Justice Department says the allegations are only allegations and that there has been no determination of liability.
