More cases pending in $15M fraud involving former TD Bank employees in Miami-Dade

MIAMI — More cases remain pending in a fraud that involved two former employees of TD Bank in Miami-Dade County who remained at The Federal Detention Center on Tuesday in downtown Miami.

Daniel “Danny” Hernandez, the bank’s former area retail marketing manager and a former Bank of America financial center manager in Miami, admitted to using his position to recruit Armando Ariel De León, a TD Bank employee, and a group of bank customers in a conspiracy to defraud federal pandemic-related aid programs of over $25 million, according to prosecutors.

Hernandez’s plot, which mainly involved defrauding two Small Business Administration programs — The Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan — succeeded in getting about $15 million, according to federal prosecutors.

Hernandez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in December, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison last week. De León pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October and he was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

Investigators identified four other alleged co-conspirators as William Alexander Posada Sandrea, Erich Javier Alfonso Barata, Alvaro Enrique Castillo, and Douglas David Melean Socorro.

Prosecutors filed a federal case for conspiracy to commit bank fraud against Posada Sandrea in May that remained pending on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty in July and didn’t show up for sentencing in October, court records show.

Prosecutors filed a federal case of conspiracy to commit wire fraud against Barata in June and closed it in October, court records show. Prosecutors also filed federal cases against Castillo and Melean Socorro in May and September that also remained pending on Tuesday.

Investigators asked anyone with information about the cases to call the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or visit this page to file a complaint form.

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