Former Nodus Bank CEO Sentenced to 112 Months for $24.9 Million Fraud and Venezuela Sanctions Evasion

Former Nodus International Bank chief executive Tomás Niembro Concha has been sentenced to 112 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a multimillion-dollar wire fraud conspiracy and a separate conspiracy to evade US sanctions involving Venezuela.

Niembro, 64, a Spanish and Venezuelan national and former CEO of the Puerto Rico-based international bank, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit more than $16.9 million. The forfeiture represents the proceeds he obtained from the wire fraud conspiracy.

The US Department of Justice said Niembro participated in a scheme that fraudulently obtained at least $24.9 million from Nodus Bank. Court filings state that he and other individuals concealed transactions benefiting Niembro and Nodus Bank board chairman Juan Ramirez from other directors, executives and the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico, the bank's regulator.

Between 2017 and 2023, Niembro, Ramirez and others caused Nodus Bank to invest approximately $11 million in a Miami-based lender. The funds were subsequently made available as loans to Niembro and Ramirez for their own benefit. The transactions were concealed through what prosecutors described as sham investments.

Between January 2018 and September 2021, Niembro and Ramirez also caused Nodus Bank's board and comptroller to approve the purchase of at least 47 promissory notes with a total value of approximately $25.3 million from Nodus Finance, a Miami-based company jointly owned by the two executives. The proceeds were used for their benefit.

In March 2023, the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions notified Nodus Bank that the institution would be placed into liquidation. Prosecutors said Niembro and Ramirez subsequently caused Nodus Bank to accept a loan portfolio from Nodus Finance in order to reduce the outstanding debt associated with the promissory notes.

The case also involved transactions concerning a Venezuelan individual who had been designated by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control as a Specially Designated National for providing material support to Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

Between 2021 and 2023, Niembro conspired with others to conduct prohibited financial transactions involving the sanctioned individual. The individual's company had an outstanding loan of approximately $2.5 million with Nodus Bank that predated the imposition of sanctions.

The parties obtained authorization from OFAC for Nodus Bank to foreclose on the individual's Southampton, New York, home. Prosecutors said that, separately, Niembro and the sanctioned individual entered into a private arrangement under which the property would be sold back to the individual for $4 million through a front company. The Justice Department stated that this transaction was prohibited under US sanctions and was not otherwise authorized by OFAC.

The sanctions-related conduct formed the basis of the second count to which Niembro pleaded guilty: conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). The first count concerned conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each offence carried a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Niembro pleaded guilty on 19 March 2026. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit at least $16.9 million connected to the fraud conspiracy. His sentencing subsequently resulted in the 112-month prison term, followed by three years of supervised release.

The prosecution followed the collapse of Nodus International Bank. The institution was placed into liquidation in 2023 after the Puerto Rico financial regulator took action concerning the bank.

Ramirez, the former Nodus Bank board chairman, had previously pleaded guilty in connection with the fraud scheme and agreed to forfeit approximately $13.6 million. The transactions involving the $11 million investment and the 47 promissory notes formed part of the conduct described in both cases.

The sanctions element of the case concerned transactions involving an individual already subject to US sanctions because of his connection to PDVSA. The Justice Department's account distinguishes between the authorized foreclosure of the property and the subsequent proposed sale through a front company, which prosecutors said was not authorized by OFAC.

The case was prosecuted in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The investigation involved IRS Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions and the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture.

The Justice Department said the prosecution was conducted as part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative. The department's Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, including its Bank Integrity Unit, handled the prosecution together with the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.

The sentence brings the criminal proceedings against Niembro to a further stage following his March guilty plea. In addition to imprisonment and supervised release, the forfeiture order requires him to surrender more than $16.9 million representing proceeds of the wire fraud conspiracy.

By fLEXI tEAM