Juan Francisco Ramirez
Introduction
Juan Francisco Ramirez, 60, of Miami, the former board chairman and co-owner of Nodus International Bank (Nodus Bank), a Puerto Rican International Banking Entity, was sentenced on October 7, 2026, to 62 months in prison for leading a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $23.6 million from the bank. He was also ordered to forfeit over $13.6 million, representing the value of the proceeds he derived from the wire fraud conspiracy. Per Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, when the bank went under, innocent depositors lost their savings. The case was prosecuted as part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative.
Background Information
Nodus Bank operated as a Puerto Rican International Banking Entity, regulated by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico (OCIF). Ramirez served as the bank’s board chairman and co-owner. The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) with support from OCIF and the Treasury Executive Office for Asset Forfeiture, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Felipe Plechac-Diaz for the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorneys Javier Urbina and Samir Paul of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section (MNF), whose Bank Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes banks and financial institutions whose officers, managers, and employees threaten the integrity of the institution or the wider financial system. The prosecution was brought as part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), a whole-of-government partnership established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion; HSTF Miami comprises agents and officers from IRS Criminal Investigation. Related court documents are filed under case number 25-cr-20384.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced. In September 2025, Ramirez pleaded guilty to an information charging one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud — a conviction entered by plea, not a trial verdict — and was sentenced to 62 months in prison. The conduct described below comes from court documents cited in the Justice Department’s release.
According to court documents, Ramirez conspired with others to siphon money from Nodus Bank. He and a co-conspirator concealed from other Nodus Bank board members and executives, and from the bank’s regulator, OCIF, that certain investments or loans were for the benefit of Ramirez and the co-conspirator, in violation of Puerto Rican law and Nodus Bank policy regarding insider transactions.
The scheme ran along two tracks. From 2017 to 2023, Ramirez conspired with others to invest more than $11 million of Nodus Bank’s funds in a Miami-based lender so that it could loan those funds to Ramirez and a co-conspirator for their own benefit. He and his co-conspirators knew the transactions were illegal and took steps to conceal their prohibited nature by having the bank make sham investments in the lending entity.
Between January 2018 and September 2021, Ramirez and a co-conspirator fraudulently induced Nodus Bank’s board and comptroller to agree to, or facilitate, the purchase of at least 47 promissory notes totaling approximately $25.3 million from a Miami-based finance company the two jointly owned. The notes purported to fund loans to legitimate individuals or businesses, but Ramirez and the co-conspirator instead used the loan proceeds for their own benefit — making personal investments in third-party companies, paying personal mortgages, and covering personal credit card expenses.
The final act came as the bank was already failing. In early March 2023, OCIF notified Nodus Bank of its intention to place it into liquidation, and later that month the bank agreed to enter voluntary liquidation. On April 28, 2023, knowing that the liquidation process would commence imminently and without authorization from OCIF, Ramirez and a co-conspirator caused Nodus Bank to purchase from their Miami-based finance company a loan portfolio totaling approximately $26 million — most of it delinquent, nonperforming, and otherwise uncollateralized. The bank accepted the portfolio as payment of the finance company’s debt arising from the 47 promissory notes purchased during 2018 to 2021, relieving the finance company of its debt to the bank. In total, Ramirez’s actions caused Nodus Bank to lose at least $23,613,371.
Public Reaction and Consequences
Justice Department officials framed the sentence as a warning to financial insiders. “This defendant abused the trust of his bank’s depositors, and when the bank went under, innocent people lost their savings,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division won’t stand for it. We will use every resource at our disposal to protect this country’s financial system and the decent, hardworking people who rely on it.”
“Ramirez was entrusted to lead a bank. Instead, he looted it. He secretly steered millions of dollars in bank funds to benefit himself and his associates, causing nearly $24 million in losses and contributing to the bank’s collapse,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “Today, he was sentenced to 62 months in federal prison and ordered to forfeit more than $13 million. This sentence sends a clear message: those who abuse positions of trust to enrich themselves will be held accountable.”
“Financial frauds can be complicated, but the law is simple: do your business honestly and protect your depositors, or you will be brought to justice,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Charles Miller of IRS-CI’s Florida Field Office, adding that IRS Special Agents and their partners “will keep bringing transparency to complex financial crimes and protecting confidence in our banking system.”
Current Status
Ramirez, 60, is serving the 62-month federal sentence imposed on October 7, 2026, and was ordered to forfeit over $13.6 million, the value of the proceeds he derived from the wire fraud conspiracy. He pleaded guilty in September 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and the release lists related court documents under case number 25-cr-20384 in the Southern District of Florida.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Ramirez’s fall coincided with the institution’s destruction. Under OCIF pressure, Nodus Bank entered voluntary liquidation in March 2023, and the Justice Department tied the collapse directly to his conduct: his secret steering of bank funds caused nearly $24 million in losses and, per the U.S. Attorney, contributed to the bank’s collapse, while Duva noted that when the bank went under, innocent depositors lost their savings. Alongside the prison term, the $13.6 million forfeiture strips away the proceeds the government says he extracted from the scheme.