Tomás Niembro, the former chief executive officer of Nodus International Bank, pleaded guilty in Miami federal court to leading a scheme that fraudulently obtained at least $24.9 million from the Puerto Rican international bank. The 64-year-old Venezuelan who lived in Miami-Dade agreed to forfeit more than $16.9 million as part of his plea agreement. Niembro’s sentencing is scheduled for June 8.
“This defendant used his position as CEO to siphon more than $24 million, hide conflicts of interest, and help drive the bank’s collapse,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “The scheme also involved efforts to evade U.S. sanctions tied to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA. As a career prosecutor and former state trial judge, I’ve learned that following the money reveals the truth. Here, it exposed both fraud and sanctions violations.”
“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 Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The defendant’s crimes undermine the integrity of our financial system, threaten economic prosperity, and harm national security.” The bank failed in 2023 after regulators placed it into liquidation.
From 2017 to 2023, Niembro and co-conspirators caused Nodus Bank to invest $11 million in a Miami-based lender so those funds could be loaned to Niembro and Board Chairman Juan Ramirez for their own benefit. Between January 2018 and September 2021, Niembro and Ramirez fraudulently induced the bank’s board to purchase at least 47 promissory notes totaling approximately $25.3 million from Nodus Finance, a Miami-based company that Niembro and Ramirez jointly owned. The Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico notified the bank in March 2023 that it would be placed into liquidation.
“Corporate titles don’t place anyone above the law,” said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s 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.” The fraud scheme involved concealing from other board members and the bank’s regulator that certain investments and loans violated Puerto Rican law.
Between 2021 and 2023, Niembro conspired to conduct prohibited financial transactions with an individual designated as a Specially Designated National by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for providing material support to Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. To satisfy an outstanding loan of approximately $2.5 million, Niembro caused Nodus Bank to foreclose on the sanctioned individual’s home in Southampton, New York, then sell the property back to the sanctioned person for $4 million through a front company. This transaction was strictly prohibited by U.S. sanctions and not licensed by OFAC.
Niembro pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. As part of his plea agreement, Niembro agreed to forfeit at least $16.9 million, which represents the value of the proceeds he derived from the wire fraud conspiracy. A federal judge will determine his sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors at the June 8 sentencing hearing.