Two Individuals Sentenced for Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Two individuals were sentenced by United States District Court Judge Silvia Carreño Coll for their roles in a bank fraud conspiracy which resulted in the theft of $526,797.  Carmelo Santiago-Santiago was sentenced to 33 months (two years and nine months) in prison and a supervised release term of five years. Efraín Delgado-Rodríguez was sentenced to 30 months (two years and six months) in prison and a supervised release term of five years. Both were ordered to pay a restitution of $526,797.  Santiago-Santiago previously pleaded guilty on November 30, 2023, and Delgado-Rodríguez pleaded guilty on December 1, 2023.

According to court documents, from May 2017 to October 2019 Carmelo Santiago-Santiago and Efraín Delgado-Rodríguez conspired with each other to execute a bank fraud scheme to obtain money held by Company A, an insurance company located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Carmelo Santiago-Santiago worked at Company A since 2016 as an accountant overseeing matters related to accounts’ reconciliation and closing journal entries. Due to his position, he had access to Company A’s accounting information, including outstanding checks and unpaid vendors. Efraín Delgado-Rodríguez was the President of Fast Contractors LLC, a general construction company in Puerto Rico.

The defendants used Santiago-Santiago’s position within Company A to create false and fraudulent checks using the check numbers of outstanding checks and voided checks originally issued to legitimate vendors and service providers of Company A. To illegally divert the funds to themselves, the defendants changed the name of payees and made fraudulent checks payable to Delgado-Rodríguez and Fast Contractors LLC using Company A’s bank account information. Once the false checks were deposited, funds were then transferred and shared with Santiago-Santiago. The fraudulent checks were created and negotiated without the knowledge or consent of Company A. The defendants’ conspiracy and scheme to defraud involved approximately $526,767 in actual losses.

U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico; and Joseph González, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI San Juan Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Christine Amy prosecuted the case.

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