Ethos Asset Management CEO charged with loan scam

2023-11-21 01:17:39

SAN DIEGO – The CEO of San Diego-based Ethos Asset Management, Inc., which provides financing to international companies, was arrested in New Jersey on Sunday night in connection with fraud charges in the Southern District of California. This investigation is being conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in San Diego.

“HSI is committed to exposing individuals and companies that take advantage of people through manipulation and false promises to gain trust and exploit their finances for illicit profits,” said HSI San Diego Special Agent in Charge Chad Plantz. “This investigation revealed fraudulent activities. This defendant must now be held accountable for his actions.”

Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, 29, of Portugal, was detained in Newark, New Jersey, when he arrived in the United States from abroad. Santos made his initial appearance there last Monday, after the United States unsealed a complaint charging him with wire fraud conspiracy related to a loan scam. Santos is accused of orchestrating the fraud through his company, Ethos Asset Management, Inc., based in San Diego.

According to the complaint, Santos required potential borrowers to pay an initial fee equal to a certain percentage of the loan amount. However, upon receiving the initial payment, Santos and Ethos did not disburse the loan as agreed by the parties. Santos used the initial fees to pay other potential borrowers, issue commissions to his accomplices, and pay personal expenses.

The complaint alleges that to attract potential borrowers and obtain lines of credit from financial institutions, Santos manipulated Ethos’ balance sheets and actual financial statements to artificially inflate Ethos’ net worth. For example, the complaint alleges that Santos induced at least one victim to pay an upfront fee in excess of $8 million by representing that Ethos had $359,088,190.22 in a specific brokerage account, but records established that Ethos did not I had that account. Similarly, the lawsuit alleges that Santos altered Ethos bank account statements to inflate the bank account balances of potential borrowers, sometimes by more than $100 million of what was deposited in the account.

If you have suffered a financial loss as a result of your association with Ethos Asset Management and/or Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, please contact HSI at [email protected]

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