Eduardo “Eddie” Lopez, a Las Vegas executive, has been sentenced by a federal district court in Nevada to 40 months in prison for leading a conspiracy to fix the wages of home healthcare nurses and committing fraud during the sale of his company. Lopez was also ordered to pay $550,000 in criminal fines, $2,496,101 in restitution to the defrauded buyer of his business, and to forfeit $10,459,000 obtained from the fraudulent sale.
Lopez’s conviction stems from actions between March 2016 and May 2019. During this period, he led efforts to fix nurse wages at his home healthcare staffing company and concealed an ongoing antitrust investigation when selling the company for more than $10 million.
“American workers are the bedrock of President Trump’s administration,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will continue to tirelessly fight for the innocent, like the hardworking nurses harmed in this case.”
Assistant Attorney General Abigail A. Slater of the Antitrust Division commented: “Wage-fixing is a brazen crime rightly punished by a lengthy period of incarceration. The dignity of work in return for a fair wage is core to our free-market enterprise system. The Defendant — a convicted antitrust criminal — profited at the expense of his employees and the unwitting buyer of his home healthcare company.” She added: “Far from being a mere ‘technical violation,’ wage-fixing is a real crime that harms innocent people — in this case nurses — and today’s sentence — the Justice Department’s first ever wage-fixing conviction — reflects that such conduct will not be resolved with a fine.”
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada stated: “This case demonstrates the consequences of violating antitrust laws. By conspiring to fix wages, the defendant deprived hardworking nurses the right to earn a fair wage. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to working with the Antitrust Division and FBI to protect workers and we will prosecute those who seek to exploit others for personal gain.”
FBI Director Kash Patel emphasized: “A free and fair market are principles of the United States, and the FBI is committed to investigating those who seek to disrupt that and scam hardworking Americans. The victims here are the hardworking nurses, who suffered loss of wages while they tirelessly cared for and helped Americans. The FBI will continue the fight against corruption and fraud across the country and globe.”
The investigation was conducted by staff from both federal agencies including prosecutors from San Francisco’s Antitrust Division office as well as members from Nevada’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The Justice Department encourages anyone with information about potential antitrust violations or related crimes to contact its Complaint Center online at www.justice.gov/atr/report-violations.
Additionally, whistleblowers who provide original information resulting in significant recoveries may qualify for financial rewards under https://www.justice.gov/atr/whistleblower-rewards.
