Home Baltimore Press Releases 2009 Former Bank Vice President Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Fraudulently Transfer Money from Clients’ Accounts ...
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Former Bank Vice President Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Fraudulently Transfer Money from Clients’ Accounts
Approximately 21 Wire Transfers Resulting in a Loss of $226,000

U.S. Attorney’s Office November 30, 2009
  • District of Maryland (410) 209-4800

BALTIMORE, MD—Andrew Rosenfeld, age 39, of Ellicott City, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to Rosenfeld’s plea agreement, from June 2008 to January 2009, Rosenfeld was part of a scheme to defraud Wells Fargo Bank, where he worked as a Vice President and Client Service Manager. Wells Fargo acted as a trustee for Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO) clients and was responsible for using money generated by the CDOs to pay invoices for its CDO clients. Rosenfeld was responsible for supervising a team of Wells Fargo employees who executed wire transfers on behalf of certain CDO clients. To do this, a member of Rosenfeld’s team would receive an invoice to pay, fill out a wire instruction and submit both to Rosenfeld, or another supervisor at his level, for approval. Once approved, the wire transfer would be executed to pay the invoice.

According to the statement of facts, beginning in June 2008, Rosenfeld and another Wells Fargo employee on a different team, created false invoices. Sometimes Rosenfeld submitted a false invoice to an unwitting member of his team causing a fraudulent wire transfer to be processed, which Rosenfeld would approve. The other employee also personally processed fraudulent wire transfers and submitted them to another unwitting supervisor to approve. Rosenfeld and the other employee transferred money into bank accounts controlled by the other employee or the other employee’s friends. Rosenfeld, the other employee and the other employee’s friends would then share the proceeds of the fraud among themselves. For example, on about August 7, 2008, Rosenfeld approved an $18,500 wire transfer to be executed from one of Wells Fargo’s CDO clients’ bank accounts to a bank account controlled by a friend of the other employee and the three shared the proceeds amongst themselves.

Rosenfeld recruited another Wells Fargo employee from his team to execute one of the wire transfers and split his portion of the proceeds of that fraudulent wire transfer with him as well.

Rosenfeld was laid off in January 2009. At that time, 21 fraudulent wire transfers had been executed, resulting in a total loss of approximately $226,000. For about six weeks after he was no longer working for Well Fargo, Rosenfeld continued to receive money from the other employee with whom he concocted the scheme and who still worked at Wells Fargo.

Rosenfeld faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz has not yet scheduled a date for sentencing.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Baltimore County Police Department for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Tonya Kelly Kowitz, who is prosecuting the case.

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