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A former bank employee is now accused of abusing his position to drain tens of thousands of dollars from the account of an elderly customer.
Rhode Island resident Carlos Bras is charged with bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft following accusations that he stole $128,000 from a 78-year-old man with dementia, reports NBC 10 News.
Prosecutors say Bras had access to customers’ accounts while working for Santander Bank in 2023.
Bras allegedly changed the victim’s PIN, set up a new online account, ordered a new debit card and sent checks addressed to his home.
Over several months, Bras allegedly moved tens of thousands of dollars from the victim’s account into his wife’s account and into accounts in Portugal. Prosecutors say that he went on a shopping spree and spent $16,000 on a used Kia.
Bras claims he sent the funds to Portugal in the presence of the account holder at a Santander branch in 2023, but surveillance footage shows otherwise.
In May 2024, Bras was charged with domestic assault by strangulation, but the charge was dismissed after he pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct months ago.
NBC 10 reached out to Bras in an effort to get his side of the story, but a person who answered said he was not available and ended the call.
Santander is the 14th-largest bank in the world with $1.986 trillion in total assets.
