Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 12/24/2025 5:05:02 AM PST by DFG
A former Bank of America employee in southwest Miami-Dade was arrested after being accused of stealing $500,000 from a disabled victim, authorities said.
Mario Martinez, 40, is facing several charges, including exploitation of the elderly, organized fraud and first-degree grand theft.
According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, deputies began investigating the case on Jan. 16 after they received a call from the Bank of America branch in southwest Miami-Dade, where a supervisor reported a scheme involving one of his employees.
An arrest affidavit said the employee was taking money from a client at the bank, and that he had a joint account with the victim without her knowing, and he would move money from her bank into his without authorization.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle spoke about Martinez's case during a press conference on Tuesday.
Rundle explained that the victim, a 42-year-old woman, cannot walk and uses a motorized wheelchair.
She said the victim had known Martinez since 2016, and he had helped her open at least one bank account.
At one point, the victim received an inheritance and wasn't sure how to handle her finances, and Martinez told her he could help her, Rundle said.
“The victim recalls entering the bank and expressing to the subject that she recently inherited a large sum of money,” Rundle said. "The subject explained that he was a financial advisor and he could take her on as a client to invest and manage her money.”
Investigators said Martinez wasn’t a financial advisor.
In December of 2024, Bank of America conducted an internal investigation and told the victim that Martinez was funneling her money.
After finding out what was happening, Bank of America and the victim reported the scheme to MDSO.
"The investigation ultimately discovered that Martinez utilized the victim's trust and his bank position to allegedly steal over half a million dollars, $500,000 from her," Rundle said.
Investigators said Martinez knew how to get around bank alerts and internal systems in order to stay under the radar.
After the bank reported his actions, Martinez was arrested.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Bank of America is one institution I have considerable distaste for.
HOORAY LEOs
Mario Martinez.
I have my mortgage with them. They are ok. But this case has an elderly charge which Florida takes seriously. But the victim is 42! Not particularly elderly.
Two ropes and a tree.
BOA is very ADA unfriendly you are right to avoid them.
A close friend of mine had a lawyer, named as executor of his grandmother’s estate, steal about that much from him.
It was so bad, the Bar of Virginia wrote him a letter, saying what was done was incredibly unethical, but it was “legal” so they could not do anything about it to force return of the money.
Enough is enough.
We need much harsher punishments. What we currently utilize means nothing to criminals. They need to fear quick and severe repercussions.
I can relate to this...
A long time ago I was cheated by a bank employee....
I was young and foolish and thought I could trust someone since they worked for the bank... cost me like 1800.00 or so
and that was a lot of money for me all those years ago.
Didn’t discover the cheat until a few years later, it was too late to do anything then...
I’m very careful how I deal with banks now....
BoA charged me twice for their credit card payment. It took 6 weeks to get refund after 2 visits to the bank.
It was so bad, the Bar of Virginia wrote him a letter, saying what was done was incredibly unethical, but it was “legal” so they could not do anything about it to force return of the money.
I'll bet a whole lot of that kind of thing goes on.
No wonder lawyers are held in such low esteem.
I’m sure the money is gone and the victim will sadly receive little to no restitution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.