Man Sentenced in Newark Federal Court for Laundering Fraud Proceeds

Hector Claveria receives a two-year prison term for laundering funds from elder and computer fraud schemes targeting victims across the U.S.

A New York man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for laundering proceeds from schemes that defrauded elderly individuals and computer service customers, U.S. Attorney John Giordano announced.

Hector Claveria, 51, of Elmhurst, New York, was sentenced on March 26, 2025, by U.S. District Judge Esther Salas in Newark federal court. Claveria previously pleaded guilty to one count of international money laundering.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Claveria served as a money mule in early 2020, knowingly collecting packages of cash linked to illegal activities. In June 2020, he laundered a portion of these funds by transferring $20,000 from a U.S.-based account to a foreign bank account, a move prosecutors say was designed to obscure the origin of the money.

The laundered funds stemmed from two separate fraudulent schemes. The first involved elder fraud, in which victims were misled into believing they owed money to government agencies or businesses, prompting them to send payments to addresses specified by the perpetrators. The second scheme exploited computer users by falsely claiming victims owed payments to a computer services company, similarly directing them to send funds to designated locations.

Judge Salas additionally imposed a three-year term of supervised release following Claveria’s prison sentence and ordered the forfeiture of $20,000.

The case was investigated by special agents from the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, Boston-New York Field Division, under the leadership of Acting Special Agent in Charge Bradley Parker.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chana Zuckier of the Bank Integrity, Money Laundering and Recovery Unit, and Jennifer Kozar of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark, represented the federal government in the prosecution.