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A 35-year-old Carmel man has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison after helping steal more than $2.1 million from a credit union, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Jose Prado-Valero, 35, of Carmel was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to financial institution fraud. He also was ordered to pay $2,132,517 in restitution by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt.
According to investigators, Prado-Valero, 35, worked at an unidentified credit union as an Automated Clearing House coordinator from 2016 through August 2019. His duties included posting and coordinating transactions into and out of the accounts of credit union members, which gave him access to members’ Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and telephone numbers. He also had access to members’ account numbers and account balances.
Sometime before to Feb. 14, 2019, Prado-Valero was approached by individuals outside the credit union who sought his assistance in conducting a scheme to defraud the financial institution and steal money held in member accounts. The unnamed co-conspirators promised to pay Prado-Valero a portion of the fraud proceeds if he stole members’ identity and account information.
Between Feb. 14 and Aug. 16, 2019, Prado-Valero and accomplices made 34 fraudulent transfers to themselves out of credit union members’ accounts in the total amount of $2,078,725. Prado-Valero was paid more than $100,000 by his co-conspirators for his role in the scheme.
“Prado-Valero was entrusted with a great deal of responsibility over the hard-earned money of the credit union’s members” said Herbert J. Stapleton, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office, which investigated the case. “Instead of using his authority and access to protect the accounts of these customers, he sold his access to a criminal conspiracy so he could enrich himself. I commend the investigative team for their expert, detailed work in this case, which resulted in this defendant being held accountable for his crimes.”
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