Former Bank Employee Charged with Stealing More Than $125,000 from Elderly Customer with Dementia

PROVIDENCE – A former employee of Santander Bank has been charged in federal court for allegedly stealing more than $125,000 from the bank account of a 78-year-old customer with dementia, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

Carlos Bras, 41 of East Providence, appeared in federal court on October 23, 2025 and charged by way of criminal complaint with wire fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

Bras was employed by Santander Bank at the time of the offense and had access to customer financial accounts.  In May 2023, Bras allegedly accessed the account of the 78-year-old victim, who resided in an assisted living facility and had a court-appointed conservator in Massachusetts.

According to charging documents, Bras is alleged to have 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. It is also alleged that he 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 allege the following:  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.

The case was referred to Seekonk Police Department and subsequently picked up by the United States Secret Service. Through the federal investigation, a contract purporting for the sale of a property in Portugal was discovered, allegedly signed by Bras and the victim.  The victim’s conservator stated he was unaware of any such real estate contract, that the signature on the document did not match the victims, and that the address listed for the victim was incorrect. 

A federal criminal complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney G. Michael Seaman.

The matter was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Seekonk Police Department.