Tomás Niembro Concha, Wire Fraud Conspiracy and Venezuela Sanctions Evasion, Florida 2023

Former Bank CEO Pleads Guilty to Multimillion-Dollar Wire Fraud Conspiracy and Venezuela Sanctions Evasion Scheme

MIAMI, FL – Tomás Niembro Concha, the former Chief Executive Officer of Nodus International Bank, pleaded guilty yesterday to leading a scheme to fraudulently obtain at least $24.9 million from Nodus Bank and conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions against Venezuela.

The scheme, which ultimately led to the bank’s failure in 2023, involved Niembro and his co-conspirators siphoning money from Nodus Bank and concealing their conduct through sham investments. The transactions were in violation of Puerto Rican law, and Niembro and his co-conspirators knew that these transactions were illegal.

Between 2017 and 2023, Niembro, Ramirez, and others caused Nodus Bank to invest $11 million in a Miami-based lender so that those funds could be loaned to Niembro and Ramirez for their own benefit. Niembro and his co-conspirators also fraudulently induced Nodus Bank’s board and comptroller to agree to buy at least 47 promissory notes totaling approximately $25.3 million from Nodus Finance, a Miami-based company that Niembro and Ramirez jointly owned.

Niembro’s crimes undermine the integrity of our financial system, threaten economic prosperity, and harm national security, according to Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Niembro, 64, of Miami, conspired with others to conduct prohibited financial transactions with an individual designated as a Specially Designated National (SDN) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for providing material support to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

Niembro and the SDN devised a scheme to cause Nodus Bank to foreclose on the SDN’s home in Southampton, NY, and then separately reached a private agreement to induce Nodus Bank to sell the property back to the SDN for $2.5 million. The scheme was designed to evade U.S. sanctions tied to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company.

The defendant abused his position as CEO, turning the bank he managed into his own personal ATM and unlawfully transacting with a sanctioned individual, said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida.

Corporate titles don’t place anyone above the law, said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Florida Field Office. Executive level fraud has real victims, and yesterday’s outcome is a step toward restoring accountability and confidence in the banking system.

Niembro’s crimes will be sentenced at a later date. According to court filings, Niembro conspired with others to siphon money from Nodus Bank, ultimately leading to the bank’s failure in 2023.

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