A federal jury convicted a Las Vegas home healthcare executive Monday for conspiring to fix nurses’ wages and fraudulently concealing a criminal investigation during the $10 million sale of his company.
Eduardo “Eddie” Lopez was found guilty of participating in a three-year conspiracy that artificially capped wages for hundreds of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses providing home healthcare in Las Vegas from March 2016 to May 2019.
The jury also convicted Lopez on five counts of wire fraud for hiding the government’s criminal antitrust investigation from buyers while selling his healthcare staffing company.
“Wage-fixing agreements are nakedly unlawful attempts at unjustly profiting off American workers,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail A. Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Lopez faces up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for violating the Sherman Act. The wire fraud convictions carry potential sentences of up to 20 years each. Sentencing is scheduled for July 14.
Federal prosecutors demonstrated that Lopez’s actions directly impacted frontline healthcare workers who provide essential care to patients in their homes.
“The FBI, along with our partners, will not condone fraud schemes that undermine the wages of dedicated nurses and licensed practical nurses,” said Special Agent in Charge Spencer L. Evans of the FBI Las Vegas Field Office.
The case was investigated by the Antitrust Division’s San Francisco Office and the FBI’s International Corruption Unit, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada.
The conviction sends a clear message to employers about wage collusion, prosecutors said.
“Today’s verdict highlights what should be a clear message with antitrust crimes: the agreement is the crime,” Slater said.
