Former Richmond Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

Contact: Craig M. Wolff
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257

Portland, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Howard Hoffman, 53, formerly of Richmond, Maine, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to bank fraud.

According to court records, in March 2007, Hoffman’s childhood friend died while abroad. Over a year later, Hoffman used his deceased friend’s personal identifying information to gain access to the friend’s bank account and change the address on the account to his residence in Richmond. Over the next few weeks, Hoffman caused two checks, totaling about $80,000, to be issued from his friend’s account. Hoffman deposited the checks into a bank account of a company he controlled. Hoffman did not have authority to access his friend’s account or cause the bank to issue the two checks.

Hoffman faces up to 30 years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine and five years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service.