Distributed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States On Behalf of the Independent Office of Inspector General

MIAMI RESIDENT SENTENCED TO 24 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR DEFRAUDING THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --  The Office of Inspector General for the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank OIG) announced today that Miami resident Yader A. Padilla, 59, was sentenced to 24 months in prison on December 3, 2010, by the Honorable U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  He was sentenced for his role in defrauding the Ex-Im Bank.  Padilla had previously pled guilty on July 29, 2010 to a criminal information that charged him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme to defraud the Ex-Im Bank of approximately $310,639.   

According to court documents and testimony at the plea hearing, from approximately May 2009 through January 2010, Padilla falsely represented his Miami, Florida pharmacy as an exporter of U.S. manufactured pharmaceutical products.  Instead of exporting the purported U.S. manufactured pharmaceutical products to South American buyers, Padilla and his co-conspirators misappropriated the money and utilized it for their personal gain.  Padilla's loans were obtained from a Florida bank and insured by Ex-Im Bank.  Padilla admitted that he and co-conspirators prepared and submitted to the Florida bank and the Ex-Im Bank false loan documents, including commercial invoices, packing lists and bills of lading which falsely reflected that Padilla purchased and shipped approximately $310,639 worth of pharmaceutical products to South American customers. 

Padilla was arrested in Miami on May 5, 2010, by special agents of the Ex-Im Bank OIG pursuant to the criminal investigation.  Padilla's arrest, conviction and sentencing are part of a larger, ongoing investigation by the Ex-Im OIG into allegations of fraud concerning Padilla and other co-conspirators.   In addition to his prison term, Padilla was ordered to serve 36 months supervised release after his confinement.  Padilla was also ordered to serve 1,400 hours of community service and pay $215,639 in restitution to the U.S. government.

Ex-Im Bank, an independent federal agency, is the official export credit agency of the United States and issues loan insurance to U.S. exporters that covers extensions of credit to foreign buyers of U.S. goods.  The Ex-Im Bank issues a loan insurance policy, which provides that if the foreign borrower defaults on its loan repayments to the lending bank, the Ex-Im Bank will reimburse the amount of the outstanding loan principal and interest to the lending bank.

The scheme was investigated by special agents of the Ex-Im Bank OIG after bank staff referred information concerning the suspicious loan defaults.  This case was prosecuted by the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Fraud Section.

SOURCE Export-Import Bank of the United States

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