Feds Offer $10K Reward In $3 Million Ventilator Theft

MIAMI, FL — Federal investigators with the FBI and the U.S. Agency for International Development are offering a total of $10,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a 42-year-old South Florida man in connection with the theft of $3 million in ventilators that were being shipped to El Salvador during the peak of that country's coronavirus outbreak.

"The ventilators were being shipped to El Salvador by the United States Agency for International Development when stolen and were intended to assist the country’s response to COVID-19," the FBI Miami said on Friday.

Federal investigators are asking for the public's help to find Yoelvis Denis Hernandez of Miami-Dade County in connection with the Aug. 8 theft. The ventilators were recovered on Aug. 20 in southwest Miami-Dade County.

"Investigators believe Hernandez may be somewhere in South Florida," the FBI Miami said. "He also has ties to Cuba."

The investigation was being conducted by the Boynton Beach Police Department, Miami Dade Police Department, Medley Police Department, Miami Gardens Police Department, Broward Sheriff’s Office, USAID Office of Inspector General and the FBI, including the agency's Miami Major Theft Task Force.

To report a tip on the whereabouts of Hernandez, call 754-703-2000.