(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve banned six former bank employees, including two at Bank of America Corp’s wealth management unit, from industry for fraudulently obtaining loans to provide economic relief to small businesses during the pandemic.
The Fed on Tuesday called for Autumn Jordan and Manuel F. Pinazzo, who previously worked at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, as well as Daedric O. Carson, Wendy Rodriguez Legon, Michael T. Lemley and Tracy L. The Sector Financial Corporation regulator said all six applied for assistance under one of the government’s COVID-19 relief programs “based on false and fraudulent representations and use of funds for unauthorized personal expenses.”
Read more: ‘Fraud’ is banned word in US aid program
According to the Fed, former employees received funding through the Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. Officials are trying to crack down on misuse of that federal effort and others.
According to the Fed, individuals did not approve or disapprove of the conduct. A representative for Bank of America declined to comment. A regional spokesperson said the activities cited by the Fed go against the firm’s own internal policies. Jordan said in a message that the alleged action was “fraudulently done in my name.” Others identified by the Fed either did not respond or could not be contacted for comment.
—With assistance from Alison Verspoil and Katherine Doherty.
