Administration April 20, 2007
ING Employee Accused of Dividend Embezzlement
April 20, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - 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
that prosecutors charged generated more than $523,000,
Reuters reported.
Reported by Adrien Martin
According the wire service, Bernard Santos of New Jersey had been employed in the U.S. by the Dutch investment firm as a corporate actions clerk and was responsible for the distribution of stock dividends to corporate clients.
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, Reuters reported.Santos has already been released on a $100,000 bail bond, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.