28' Maltese Magnum Missing at Sea

[Bobcat]

Tuesday, May 6, 2014Decrease text sizeIncrease text sizeAdd to FacebookAdd to Twitter
Coast Guard searches for speedboat
BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com
The Coast Guard continued its search Monday for a speedboat reportedly bound for Cuba that left Key West Saturday and has yet to return.

Robert Garcia-Esquerro left Key West Bight in a 28-foot yellow Maltese Magnum called Miss Juliette sometime Saturday morning, bound for Cuba. The boat was supposed to return that night, said Lt. Peter Bermont.

After receiving a call from Garcia-Esquerro's wife Saturday night, the Coast Guard began the search using three aircraft from the mainland, as well the Key West-based Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter Charles David, which was already on patrol in the Florida Straits.

Garcia-Esquerro has federal warrants for his arrest relating to health care fraud and may not wish to be found, which is compounding the search, according to the Coast Guard.

That part of the case is still being investigated and there was very little information as of Monday, Bermont said.

Where Garcia-Esquerro's wife called from and whether he is a resident of Monroe County was unclear, he added.

The Coast Guard Investigative Service -- the arm of the branch that investigates criminal cases -- did not have an active case on the matter as of Monday, said CGIS Resident Agent in Charge Paul Shultz.

"This is similar to the case we had with the windsurfers a few weeks ago in that it's an apparent distress situation, but the person may also be trying not to be located, which always makes things complicated," Bermont said.

The Coast Guard is asking all mariners to keep a lookout for the speedboat and report any sightings via VHF Channel 16 if on the water.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard also airlifted an 18-year-old visitor with a heart condition from the Dry Tortugas Saturday to Lower Keys Medical Center, where he was listed in stable to good condition, Bermont said.

alinhardt@keysnews.com

[rschap1]

Poor boat

Sounds suspicious

[Ratickle]

Nothing yet?

[Bobcat]

He's probably a Cuban Citzen by now....or a Foreign Prisoner.

[Buoy]

I think Bud Weisner is already on his way to claim salvage rights.

[Ratickle]

I hope so, it would be sad to lose the boat......

[Bobcat]

This is Robert Garcia-Esquerro aboard his boat, the 'Miss Juliette.' Center Console nice boat.



U.S. Coast Guard Sector Key West on Friday continued its search for Robert Garcia-Esquerro, who's wanted by federal authorities for alleged Medicare fraud and who left Garrison Bight in Key West on May 3.

Garcia-Esquerro, 43, took off on what he said was a fishing trip in the 28-foot center console Miss Juliette and was due back that evening, according to a report Garcia's wife made to the Coast Guard.

The search began on Sunday and so far has included an aircraft from Sector Miami and another from Clearwater, the 154-foot cutter Margaret Norvell out of Miami and the 87-foot Yellowfin patrol boat from Charleston, S.C., according to Sector Key West spokesman Peter Bermont.

"We don't have any updates," Bermont said Friday. "We've been actively searching with flights and surface assets. All of our units have been notified." He added, "We'll continue to stand and keep a vigilant eye out in the Florida Straits."

Garcia-Esquerro has been charged with Medicare fraud under a sealed indictment returned by a federal grand jury earlier this year. It's unclear how -- or if -- Garcia-Esquerro might have known that he was facing arrest.

Over the past decade, a string of South Florida people sought on health-care fraud charges in Miami have escaped the legal system by returning to Cuba.

Garcia-Esquerro once worked for several mental-health clinics in Miami-Dade, including his father's, called Latin Quarter. Latin Quarter, which closed in 2010, was among the top-billing Medicare-licensed psychotherapy clinics in the nation, filing for more than $10 million annually in payments, records show.

The father, Robert F. Garcia-Esquerro, is a disbarred Cuban-American lawyer who was convicted of money laundering and bank fraud in 1993, according to Miami federal court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison. After his release, he opened numerous health-care and other businesses, records show.

Anyone with information about the younger Garcia-Esquerro should call the Coast Guard at (305) 415-6800.

[Ratickle]

So hopefully he took a center console and left the Magnum where Bud can get ahold of it....

[Bobcat]

Coast Guard ends search
The Coast Guard on Friday suspended its search for missing boater Robert Garcia-Esquerro, who left Key West Bight May 3 in a yellow, 28-foot Maltese Magnum called Miss Juliette that was reportedly bound for Cuba.

Garcia-Esquerro was expected to return later that night, but never showed, according to a relative who reported him missing.

Coast Guard District 7 officials in Miami confirmed the search had been called off on Monday. Mariners who have information about his whereabouts are asked to contact the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16.

[Ratickle]

Don't care if they stop searching for the boater but they need to find that boat!!!

[h2oMag]

Is there any new info on this missing Magnum, or does Cuba have a new patrol boat ?????????

[Ratickle]

We were all hoping you had captured it........