72-year-old Commerce man denies federal voter fraud allegations

At 72 years old, Omar Muñoz said he never expected to find himself in handcuffs and at the center of a federal voter fraud investigation.

"Six police cars, 18 police officers," Muñoz said, recalling his arrest on Monday. "We had a helicopter over here, and they threatened to do damage if I don't open the door."

Prosecutors accuse the Belize-born lawful permanent resident of registering to vote in Los Angeles County in 2019 and voting in four elections. Muñoz denies the claims and says he has never registered or voted. 

"That is fraud to me," he said. 

He also suggested someone else could have used his personal information, pointing to a past incident.

"There was an Omar Muñoz who used my name and social that was working at the Cheesecake Factory in Calabasas," Muñoz said. "The IRS was the one who fixed that for me."

The case is part of "Operation Protect the Vote," which resulted in charges against 28 people in California. Reacting to the charges, State Attorney General Rob Bonta said there is no widespread voter fraud in California but that there are, at times, one-off examples of voter fraud. 

Muñoz said he's had six surgeries and suffers from diabetes, a heart murmur, neuropathy and high blood pressure. 

"Right now, I'm apprehensive, feeling a lot of pain and my body is trembling," he said.   

While the charges against him remain allegations, Muñoz said he's confident that he will be found innocent in the end. 

"At the same time, your name gets dragged," he said. 

The U.S. Attorney's Office has not responded to CBS LA's request for comment.