Complaint Review: Intercredit Bank NA

Complaint against Intercredit Bank, NA, Mr. Mauricio E. Laniado, CEO, Miguel A. Rasco, SVP, and Mr. Athan F. Castiglia, EVP.

Intercredit Bank is run by Mr. Mauricio Laniado, CEO, and Miguel Rasco, SVP. They are the same two who previously ran Pacific National Bank for which Mr. Laniado resigned after the bank was placed on a cease and desist order. Subsequently a whistle blower lawsuit was filed in Miami Federal Court by Carl Wolf who was named CEO. The bank failed and was taken over by U.S. Bank.

The owners of Intercredit Bank are from Ecuador and the current president, Mr. Mauricio Laniado, is also from Ecuador. The owners hired him to run Intercredit Bank, NA with full knowledge that he ran Pacific National Bank, now a failed bank that was run to the ground. Prior to Pacific National Bank getting taken over by the OCC, they were involved in alleged money laundering. Note that Pacific National Bank was also owned by a parent bank, Banco del Pacifico, which was owned by el Banco Central de Equador, aka the Central Bank of Equador which is the Ecuadorian Government. Intercredit Bank was also under a cease and desist order from the OCC.

In addition to Intercredit Bank, Na's irresponsible and negligent hiring practices of hiring Mr. Mauricio Laniado and Miguel Rasco, who was fired from his previous job, they also hired Mr. Athan Castiglia, EVP, who was the former CEO and one of the founders of Continental Bank of Miami which was also placed under a cease and desist order for violation of the bank secrecy act.

I would like to know why:

1) Intercredit Bank, NA hires individuals who are detrimental to the safety of the banks operations and its clients by knowingly engaging in unsafe and unsound practices in conducting the business of a National Association Bank.

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2) Why these individuals are not being investigated nor Intercredit Bank, NA. for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act Hiring Recommendations which states on Page 56 Paragraph 5: review managements employment screening process for reasonableness and to identify safeguards (e.g., background checks and references) implemented to protect the bank from hiring individuals with questionable or possibly suspicious backgrounds.

3) What are the specific hiring policies that Intercredit Bank, NA has in place and whether or not they have been followed?

Why is it that the Office of The Comptroller of the Currency has not become aware of this situation even though Pacific National Bank had a Federal Whistle Blower Lawsuit filed in Miami Federal Court against them under case number 09-21531 on June 8, 2009? This lawsuit was filed by Mr. Carl Wolf a CEO that took over some time after Mr. Mauricio Laniado resigned upon PNB being placed on a cease and desist order. Mr. Carl Wolf closed 4,600 out of 11,000 accounts. He was fired for his refusal to take part in illegalities.

I have become prey to Intercredit Bank and the above named predators due to the fact that they are my enemy just because I am a former and current client of Ana Dominguez, a former Executive Vice President of Intercredit Bank, who they hate with a passion. As a result of their adversarial behavior towards me, I have not only suffered substantial financial losses, but also sudden cardiac arrest. They have set roadblocks in negotiations where they chose substantial losses to the bank over a reasonable temporary deal, which would have promoted the best interest of the bank. There has been a pattern of misconduct by these three individuals and Intercredit Bank against my mother and me, which has caused substantial losses to everyone involved. Not only has there been a clear pattern of irresponsible hiring, but also a pattern of violations involving the Bank Secrecy Act where Intercredit Bank was cited by the OCC three times within six months of each other. This is outrageous by today's banking standards. Such oversight is costing billions of dollars in losses to the FDIC.

As if all this were not enough, Intercredit Bank was also mentioned on August 25, 2008 in a Miami Herald article about the infamous Benitez Brothers Medicaid fraud ring. The Benitez brothers' link to La Bamba Check Cashing -- the now-defunct business that was indicted along with its president in a separate case this year -- reveals a new dimension to the way the siblings laundered some of their $84 million in ill-gotten Medicare payments to the Dominican Republic. Among the alleged transactions: On Nov. 13, 2003, a check for $146,563 was drawn on the bank account of a Benitez-owned HIV clinic, Saint Jude Rehab Center, in Miami. The clinic's account was at Intercredit Bank in Miami, the check was made payable to a sham company, ''America Consulting,'' and it was cashed at La Bamba, according to the brothers' indictment.