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Compliance April 20, 2007
Alleged Dividend Embezzlement Scheme Leads to Arrest
A former corporate actions clerk at ING Financial Services was arrested Thursday on federal wire fraud charges for his part in an embezzlement scheme related to client dividend payments.
Reported by Adrien Martin
According to a Reuters report, prosecutors allege that the clerk, Bernard Santos of New Jersey, who was responsible for the distribution of stock dividends to corporate clients, generated more than $523,000 through an embezzlement scheme. The federal prosecutors say that from about October 2005 through September 2006, Santos created bogus e-mails that requested payment of particular stock dividends, then transferred the dividends to his own bank account.
Santos faces one count of wire fraud and, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross loss or gain derived from the offense charged, according to the report.
Santos has already been released on a $100,000 bail bond, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.