SAN FRANCISCO MAN PLEADS GUILTY
TO BANK FRAUD OF $1.5 MILLION

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced  that Paulo S. Nogueira pled guilty Wednesday afternoon to bank fraud.

Mr. Nogueira, 44, of San Francisco, was charged in a superseding information on October 13, 2004, with one count of bank fraud.  Under the plea agreement, he pled guilty to that count.  Mr. Nogueira previously had been charged by a federal Grand Jury on February 3, 2004, with operating an illegal money transmitting business.

In pleading guilty, Mr. Nogueira admitted that in July of 2003, he opened a joint checking account at Bank of America in San Francisco under the assumed name of "Jose Nogueira Silva" and the name "Mario Mazzei."  Mr. Nogueira showed a bank employee a California driver's license with his picture on it in the name of "Jose Nogueira Silva."  He also showed the employee a photocopy of a fake Brazilian passport in the name of "Mario Mazzei."  Mr. Nogueira also provided the bank a signature card bearing the supposed signatures of "Mario Mazzei" and "Jose Silva."  Mr. Nogueira admitted that he falsely told the bank employee that he knew "Mario Mazzei," and acknowledged that he had never met any such person and knew that no such person was actually opening a joint account with him. 

Mr. Nogueira admitted that, on the same day he opened the account, he deposited a $622,876.25 settlement check issued in an antitrust case and made payable to a company located in Capital Federal, Argentina.  The face of the check bore the notation "Attn: Mario Mazzei," and the back of the check bore what appeared to be the signed name "Mario Mazzei."  Upon being contacted, the real Mario Mazzei said that he had been waiting for a settlement check but had never received it in the mail.  Mr. Nogueira admitted that an individual in Brazil sent him this check.  In pleading guilty, Mr. Nogueira acknowledged that shortly after depositing this check, he transferred nearly all of the money out of the account.

Mr. Nogueira also admitted that in August 2003, he deposited a second check into the Silva/Mazzei account.  This check, in the amount of $958,606.85, was drawn on the account of a second corporation's world headquarters and made payable to a subsidiary of that company located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The back of this check also bore what appeared to be the signed name "Mario Mazzei."  The subsidiary never received the check from its headquarters.  Mr. Nogueira admitted receiving this check, like the earlier check, from an individual in Brazil.  Bank of America placed a hold on this check because it had doubts about the authenticity of the endorsement.  Mr. Nogueira acknowledged that a hold was placed on the second check before he could transfer any of the $958,000 from the account.

Mr. Nogueira admitted that he misrepresented his identity and the supposed involvement of Mr. Mazzei in opening the joint account for the purpose of defrauding Bank of America.  Mr. Nogueira admitted that he made these misrepresentations in order to be able to deposit the checks supposedly endorsed by "Mario Mazzei," then withdraw the proceeds, even though he knew he was not entitled to those funds.  Mr. Nogueira admitted that he was responsible for a total intended loss of $1,581,483 - the total of the two supposedly Mazzei-endorsed checks he deposited into the account.

The sentencing of Mr. Nogueira is scheduled for February 8, 2005 before U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker in San Francisco.  The maximum statutory penalty for bank fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1344(2) is thirty years in prison and a fine of $1 million, plus restitution of $622,876.  However, the actual sentence may be dictated by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of factors, and would be imposed at the discretion of the Court.

The prosecution is the result of a 14-month investigation by Nathan Emery of the Department of Homeland Security and Bryan Wong of the Internal Revenue Service.  Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr. is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case with the assistance of legal secretary Nancy Dick. 

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Luke Macaulay at (415) 436-6757 or by email at Luke.Macaulay3@usdoj.gov.