Tampa Man and Maryland Banker Plead Guilty to Bank Fraud and Other Offenses

TAMPA—United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill announces that Michael Anthony Prozer, III (38, Tampa) and Fedor Stanley Salinas (36, Bethesda, Maryland) pled guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail, wire, and bank fraud. Prozer also pled guilty to making a false statement to a financial institution. The maximum penalties faced by both men include a term of imprisonment as follows: conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud (30 years); wire fraud (30 years); mail fraud (30 years); and bank fraud (30 years). Prozer also faces a maximum penalty of 30 years’ imprisonment for making a false statement.

According to the superseding indictment, Prozer, formerly the chief executive officer of Xchangeagent Inc., recruited Salinas, a financial specialist at Wachovia Bank in Langley Park, Maryland, to aide in a scheme to defraud a Georgia bank by obtaining a short term business loan. The loan was purportedly secured by non-existent collateral. Prozer and Salinas produced fraudulent bank statements and supporting documents to convince bank officials that Prozer had more than $21 million in deposits at Wachovia Bank, when, in fact, no such funds existed. The scheme resulted in a $2,999,995 loss to Park Avenue Bank in Valdosta, Georgia.

This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by First Assistant United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley and Assistant United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney.