PROVIDENCE – A former employee of Santander Bank has been sentenced in federal court for stealing more than $125,000 from the bank account of a 78-year-old customer with dementia.
Carlos Bras, 41, of East Providence, was sentenced on October 8, 2026, by U.S. District Court Judge Melissa R. DuBose to 30 months of imprisonment to be followed by 3 years of supervised release and a $200 special assessment. Bras was also ordered to pay $126,000 in restitution. Bras previously pleading guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to charging documents, Bras enabled online banking access to the victim’s account, ordered checks sent to an address in Fall River and his own residence, and ordered a debit card for his personal use. He also conducted numerous unauthorized transactions to his wife’s account, and several large wire transfers to a Portuguese bank account in her name.
The charging documents also stated that Santander Bank investigators confronted Bras, who initially denied knowing the victim but later claimed he had assisted him with in-branch transactions. Bank security footage showed that the individuals in Bras’ office at the time of the transfers were not the victim. Bras also did not disclose that his wife was the recipient of the wire transfers until confronted.
Investigators also discovered a purported real estate contract in Portugal bearing the signatures of Bras and the victim. The victim’s conservator reported that the victim was unaware of the transaction and that the signature and listed address were not the victim’s.
“Mr. Bras exploited his position at a financial institution and took advantage of an elderly man who could not protect himself,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Charles C. Calenda. “Today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of that betrayal and the commitment of our office and our law enforcement partners to safeguard vulnerable members of our community.”
“This sentencing sends a clear message: those who abuse positions of trust to target vulnerable victims will be held accountable,” said Mark Comorosky, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Boston Field Office. “The defendant used his access as a bank employee to steal from an elderly victim and move funds for his own benefit. The Secret Service is proud to stand with our partners at the Seekonk Police Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in bringing this case to a just conclusion.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney G. Michael Seaman.
The matter was investigated by the USSS and the Seekonk Police Department.
