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California Man Sentenced for $1.3M Bank Scam
Carlos Serrano, a 64-year-old man from Glendale, California, has been sentenced to 18 months in a community correctional facility for his role in a $1.3 million scheme to defraud the First International Bank of Connecticut (FIB) and the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank).
According to court documents, Serrano was convicted of conspiring to commit bank fraud and committing bank fraud in connection with a fraudulent $1.3 million loan transaction involving FIB and the Ex-Im Bank. The scheme, which took place in approximately November 2000, involved Serrano meeting with alleged co-conspirators and agreeing to act as an exporter in a loan transaction between a company in the Philippines and FIB.
Serrano’s sole job in the transaction was to obtain a $200,000 down payment from the Philippine company, purchase $1.3 million in U.S. goods on behalf of the Philippine company, ship the purchased goods to the Philippine company, and certify to FIB and the Ex-Im Bank that he had purchased and shipped those goods. However, Serrano contacted U.S. suppliers using a fake name for the purpose of obtaining price quotes, but he never actually purchased any goods.
In reliance on Serrano’s false statements, FIB sent Serrano $1.1 million in loan proceeds. Testimony revealed that after receiving the loan proceeds, Serrano paid himself approximately $28,000, sent approximately $949,000 to an alleged co-conspirator, and sent approximately $160,000 to a company in Singapore. As a result of the fraud, the Ex-Im Bank lost $924,569.
This case is part of a broader investigation into an $80 million scheme to defraud the Ex-Im Bank between November 1999 and December 2005. To date, eight individuals – Serrano, Daniel Curran, Christina Song, Edward Chua, David Villongco, Robert Delgado, Jaime Galvez, and Edward Javier – have been convicted for their involvement in the fraud scheme.
Serrano was sentenced on February 9, 2009, in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Judge Christina A. Snyder. In addition to his prison sentence, Serrano was placed on five years of probation and ordered to pay restitution of $924,569 to the Ex-Im Bank.
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Key Facts
- State: Connecticut
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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