Fraud Friday – Ex-TD Bank Executive Guilty of $17 Million PPP Fraud
January 13, 2022
Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor
Fraud Friday – Ex-TD Bank Executive Guilty of $17 Million PPP Fraud
Daniel Hernandez worked at TD Bank overseeing 80 employees at 27 different branches as a Market Manager until he orchestrated a PPP fraud scheme. He was fired from the bank in August 2022 and pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy charge at the end of 2022.
Hernandez, along with bank customers and a former bank employee, applied for over 90 loans asking for $30 million from the Paycheck Protection Program. After recruiting customers, he would connect them with other co-conspirators who could help provide false and fraudulent documents. The criminal complaint also states that he advised applicants how to launder the money to shield them from fraud detection.
He would advise customers on how to file applications and what they needed to include in the applications. Hernandez also helped fill the applications with fabricated information related to the number of employees, payroll expenses, and gross revenues. Then, using his position at the bank, he would review the loans and approve the fraudulent loans when it was possible. In addition, he directed others to apply for $7 million from the EIDL program.
As a result, Hernandez and his network of schemers received more than $17 million approved by the SBA, TD Bank, and Hernandez’s former employer Bank of America. He would take 10-15% of the loan value as a kickback.
His co-conspirator at the bank, Armando Ariel De Leon, pleaded guilty to a wire fraud conspiracy charge in October for his role in the fraud and receiving kickbacks.
Another one of his co-conspirators who was the President of a company worked with Hernandez and others to file falsified PPP loan applications. After pleading guilty to a bank fraud conspiracy charge in July, he did not attend his sentencing in November and is currently at large. A third conspirator who is accused of submitting fraudulent PPP loan applications is expected to plead guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.