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The founder and CEO of a San Diego-based financial firm pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.
Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, 30, of Portugal, headed Ethos Asset Management, Inc., which offered financing to businesses in the United States, Brazil, Turkey and more.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, however, said the firm bilked victims of $17 million in the U.S. alone.
Prosecutors say Ethos offered loans to prospective borrowers who paid upfront fees as collateral, but never received the promised funds. Other times, the loans were made up of collateral fees paid by other borrowers, prosecutors said.
Santos and others at Ethos also made numerous misrepresentations about the company’s ability to provide loans and altered financial statements to falsely represent Ethos’ assets, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
For example, Santos forged the signature of an employee to falsely represent that the accounting firm had audited a financial statement asserting that Ethos had over $2.2 billion in assets.
Another time, Santos sent a borrower a bank statement that falsely stated Ethos had more than $100 million.
Though Santos’ plea agreement outlines $17.1. million in losses to U.S. victims, prosecutors say they plan to offer evidence at a restitution hearing “that Santos owes significantly more money to various other victims.”
Santos is set to be sentenced April 18 before U.S. District Judge Robert S. Huie. He was arrested in New Jersey in November 2023 and has remained in custody.