A pharmacy technician airman at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and his spouse were recently indicted in a plot to defraud the Department of Defense of millions of dollars in an effort to “curate and maintain a luxurious lifestyle.”
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard Stefon Ramroop and his spouse, Manuel George Madrid, allegedly stole millions in taxpayer dollars from the department in a years-long scheme, according to a Justice Department statement released last week.
Prosecutors claim that the couple used Ramroop’s position at the Tucson, Arizona, base’s pharmacy to purchase thousands of medical devices using taxpayer funds and then stealing and reselling the devices for their own gain, defrauding the U.S. government.
“Fraud of this level is not just a financial crime, it undermines public trust, diverts resources, and threatens the integrity of our force,” Special Agent Richard Kautz, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 217 commander, said in the release.
“Every dollar lost to fraud is a dollar taken away from the security of our nation,” Kautz continued.
On Feb. 11, the couple was indicted by a federal grand jury with 12 counts of conspiracy to commit theft of government property, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, per the release.
The indictment asserts that Ramroop and Madrid used the proceeds to purchase luxury vehicles and real estate directly from their personal bank accounts, funded by the fraudulent medical device sales.
The release, complete with photos of the luxury vehicles the couple bought, states that in February 2024 the couple used the fraud funds to purchase a million-dollar home in Tucson, a new 2024 Porsche Cayenne Sport Utility Vehicle with the price tag of $141,443.34 and a new BMW i7 Sport Utility Vehicle for $195,397.59.
From January 2022 through 2025 the release claims that the couple deposited over $11 million in fraud proceeds into bank accounts they controlled.
To do this, Ramroop and Madrid utilized wire transfers, Automated Clearing House deposits and other credits from companies engaged in the resale of medical test strips and devices, per the statement.
The orders of the stolen medical devices cost the department over $3 million, the statement says.
In a Jan. 15 execution of a search warrant, the vehicles and other items were seized by law enforcement, according to the indictment.
Ramroop’s lawyer and the law office representing Madrid listed in the court filings did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.
The investigation was led by the IRS’s Criminal Investigations division, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and members of the Homeland Security Task Force. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, Tucson, is tasked with the prosecution efforts.
If convicted, Ramroop and Madrid could face imprisonment of a maximum of five years for conspiracy to commit theft of government property, a money laundering penalty of up to 10 years for each count and up to 20 years for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
Cristina Stassis is a reporter covering stories surrounding the defense industry, national security, military/veteran affairs and more. She previously worked as an editorial fellow for Defense News in 2024 where she assisted the newsroom in breaking news across Sightline Media Group.
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