Tomás Niembro Concha, former CEO of Nodus International Bank, was sentenced to over nine years in federal prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar fraud and evading sanctions against Venezuela. The case involved Miami tie-ins and significant financial misconduct.
Niembro, a Spanish and Venezuelan national, received a 112-month prison sentence and a directive to forfeit $16.9 million. This judgment came from a U.S. District Court in Miami, with Judge Kathleen M. Williams presiding.
Nodus International Bank, a San Juan-based institution founded in 2009 and popular among Venezuelans, collapsed in 2023. This collapse froze approximately $80 million in deposits, affecting hundreds of customers, many of whom resided in South Florida.
Fraudulent Banking Practices
Niembro and Juan Francisco Ramirez, former Nodus Chairman from Miami, prompted the bank to invest $11 million in a Miami-based lender, which benefited them personally. The Nodus Finance company, owned by the two, played a major role in extracting funds through deceptive transactions.
Between 2017 and 2023, Niembro and associates disguised loans and investments to funnel money illegally. Their scheme involved misleading the bank’s board and Puerto Rican regulators.
By September 2021, the duo had convinced the bank to purchase promissory notes amounting to $25.3 million from Nodus Finance, further siphoning money for personal use.
Sanctions Evasion Activities
U.S. prosecutors revealed that Niembro also conspired to violate sanctions on Venezuela between 2021 and 2023. He engaged in illicit financial transactions with an entity linked to Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA.
Niembro and the sanctioned entity’s leader circumvented regulations by crafting a private agreement to sell a Southampton property through deceptive means, undermining U.S. sanctions.
Bank’s Collapse and Customer Hardships
The downfall of Nodus had severe implications for depositors. Many Venezuelans used the bank for financial transactions as other banks distanced themselves due to heightened sanctions.
By 2024, an estimated $80 million remained unrecoverable for depositors, many of whom were in South Florida and Latin America. The dire situation was exacerbated by the bank’s international charter status, leaving deposits uninsured.
“There are not enough words for what I feel,” Adelaida Cedeño, a Venezuelan businesswoman, lamented to the Miami Herald. She expressed feelings of betrayal and financial threat to her business due to the bank’s closure.
Regulators identified misaligned payments and transactions, stripping shareholders of liquidation control, and considering options for depositor restitution. Clients feared minimal recovery of their lost funds.