Former St. Bernard Parish Assistant District Attorney and Co-Defendants Sentenced to Prison for Defrauding First NBC Bank

NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on October 19, 2023, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo sentenced GLENN E. DIAZ, age 72, to 87  months in prison, for his role in leading a scheme to defraud First NBC Bank (FNBC), the New Orleans-based bank that failed in April 2017.  DIAZ, along with codefendants PETER J. “PETE” JENEVEIN, age 58, of Panama City, Florida; and MARK S. GRELLE, age 68, of Chalmette, were convicted in April 2023, of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and substantive bank fraud charges.  DIAZ previously worked as an assistant district attorney for St. Bernard Parish for over thirty years.  Between June and December 2016, the defendants defrauded FNBC of over $550,000.

In addition to his sentence of incarceration, DIAZ was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, and  restitution in an amount to be determined at a later hearing.  Further, Judge Milazzo sentenced DIAZ to two years  of supervised release, and payment of a mandatory $1000 special assessment fee.

Citing JENEVEIN’S substantial health issues, Judge Milazzo sentenced JENEVEIN to 6 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release, 18 months of which must be spent in  home confinement.  JENEVEIN is also required to pay restitution and a mandatory special assessment fee of $3,100.

Judge Milazzo sentenced GRELLE to 24 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release, 6 months of which must be spent in home confinement.  GRELLE also is required to pay restitution and a mandatory special assessment fee of $1,900.

According to the evidence at trial, from at least April 2016 through December 20, 2016, DIAZ, JENEVEIN, and GRELLE conspired to defraud FNBC through a series of false invoices and other fake documents for work purportedly done at a Florida warehouse owned by DIAZ.

DIAZ was a customer of FNBC from 2006 through the bank’s closure in 2017.  By late 2015, DIAZ had been overdrawing his checking account for purported business expenses.  In actuality, DIAZ was depositing these overdrafts into his personal account at another bank.  In June 2016, FNBC officers began requiring invoices from DIAZ to prove that he was spending bank funds to improve the Florida warehouse, that had served as collateral for DIAZ’s loans at FNBC Bank.

In response to the FNBC’s requirement, DIAZ had JENEVEIN and GRELLE provide fake invoices for improvements on the Florida warehouse that were purportedly performed by GRELLE’s company, Grelle Underground Services LLC.  FNBC officers approved the overdrafts based on these invoices.  However, after DIAZ wrote the check to GRELLE’s company, GRELLE would then write a check back to DIAZ, that DIAZ deposited into his personal account at JPMorgan Chase bank, to hide it from FNBC.  DIAZ then used the money for expenditures unrelated to the Florida warehouse project including, vintage automobiles, plastic surgery, precious metals, and online shopping.  In total, DIAZ, JENEVEIN, and GRELLE executed 17 round-trip transactions through GRELLE’s accounts.  Evidence at trial also showed that DIAZ and JENEVEIN created other false invoices and credit card itemizations  claiming false business expenses, and fabricating business names to make DIAZ’s personal expenses look like legitimate construction expenses.  

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the agencies that conducted this years-long investigation: the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of Inspector General, Miami Field Office; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Orleans Field Office; and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General, Dallas Regional Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew R. Payne of the Financial Crimes Unit, Nicholas D. Moses, Healthcare Fraud Coordinator, J. Ryan McLaren of the Appellate Unit, and Rachal Cassagne of the Narcotics Unit are in charge of the prosecution.