Pinay tagged as mastermind in $30-M bank scam
CHICAGO, Illinois-- A former US Air Force enlisted man who was sentenced to 41 months in prison in connection with a $30-million scheme to defraud a US-based bank, tagged a Filipina as the mastermind of the scheme.
Daniel Curran, 53, who was sentenced last April 23 by the US District Court of Columbia said Marilyn Ong “masterminded the whole scheme" to swindle the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank).
According to Curran, from October 2000 to June 2005, he acted as a purported “exporter" of approximately $30-million worth of fraudulent loan transactions, falsified documents sent to US banks and to the Ex-Im Bank, and misappropriated about $24-million in loan proceeds.
The Irish-American was a former owner of Dankim Trading Corp., an exporting company located in Boynton Beach, and pleaded guilty on June 8, 2007, to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of mail fraud.
Curran, admitted keeping approximately $400,000 of those proceeds and transferring approximately $23-M to bank accounts owned and controlled by Ong, a co-conspirator in the Philippines.
To date, six individuals – Curran, Filipino-American David Villongco, Edward Chua, Robert Delgado, Christina Song and Jaime Galvez – have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the fraud scheme.
Curran’s sentencing is part of a broader investigation into an $80 million scheme to defraud the Ex-Im Bank between November 1999 and December 2005.
Villongco was sentenced on Feb. 29, 2008, to 33 months in prison; Galvez was sentenced on Jan.7, 2008, to one year in prison; and Delgado was sentenced on Oct. 5, 2007, to two years in prison.
In addition, four other individuals – Marilyn Ong, Ildefonso Ong, Nelson Ti and Joseph Tirona – have been indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia for their alleged involvement in the scheme.
Curran’s cooperation provided critical information to investigators about the ‘inner workings’ of the scheme.
His testimonies also led to the investigation and prosecution of Ong, and others, including Galvez, whose JG International Freight Corporation was used by Curran as freight forwarder for the fraudulent loan transactions.
Laura E. Sweeney of the office of public affairs of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., said Monday (April 28) that Curran, was sentenced to a three-year supervised release, forfeiture of his share of $140,000 of the $400,000 he received from the fraud to the US and restitution of $23,156,828 to the Ex-Im Bank.
Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor of the District of Columbia said the “substantial assistance Curran provided to the government in its investigation and prosecution of others was taken into consideration at sentencing" for a “six-level" downward departure from level 28 (78-97 months) to level 22 (41-51 months) imprisonment.
Born in Yonkers, New York, Curran married Mary Catherine Curran (formerly Seeto Ong), who is the niece of Ong. He has two daughters.
A US Air Force freight traffic specialist for four years, he later worked as a Quality Assurance Manager for a New York plastic company for 11 years.
In the last years of his employment in the plastic company, he opened DanKim Trading and began engaging in the fraudulent Ex-Im Bank scheme, which funded primarily his livelihood. - Joseph Lariosa, GMANews.TV
Daniel Curran, 53, who was sentenced last April 23 by the US District Court of Columbia said Marilyn Ong “masterminded the whole scheme" to swindle the Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank).
According to Curran, from October 2000 to June 2005, he acted as a purported “exporter" of approximately $30-million worth of fraudulent loan transactions, falsified documents sent to US banks and to the Ex-Im Bank, and misappropriated about $24-million in loan proceeds.
The Irish-American was a former owner of Dankim Trading Corp., an exporting company located in Boynton Beach, and pleaded guilty on June 8, 2007, to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of mail fraud.
Curran, admitted keeping approximately $400,000 of those proceeds and transferring approximately $23-M to bank accounts owned and controlled by Ong, a co-conspirator in the Philippines.
To date, six individuals – Curran, Filipino-American David Villongco, Edward Chua, Robert Delgado, Christina Song and Jaime Galvez – have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the fraud scheme.
Curran’s sentencing is part of a broader investigation into an $80 million scheme to defraud the Ex-Im Bank between November 1999 and December 2005.
Villongco was sentenced on Feb. 29, 2008, to 33 months in prison; Galvez was sentenced on Jan.7, 2008, to one year in prison; and Delgado was sentenced on Oct. 5, 2007, to two years in prison.
In addition, four other individuals – Marilyn Ong, Ildefonso Ong, Nelson Ti and Joseph Tirona – have been indicted by a federal grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia for their alleged involvement in the scheme.
Curran’s cooperation provided critical information to investigators about the ‘inner workings’ of the scheme.
His testimonies also led to the investigation and prosecution of Ong, and others, including Galvez, whose JG International Freight Corporation was used by Curran as freight forwarder for the fraudulent loan transactions.
Laura E. Sweeney of the office of public affairs of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., said Monday (April 28) that Curran, was sentenced to a three-year supervised release, forfeiture of his share of $140,000 of the $400,000 he received from the fraud to the US and restitution of $23,156,828 to the Ex-Im Bank.
Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor of the District of Columbia said the “substantial assistance Curran provided to the government in its investigation and prosecution of others was taken into consideration at sentencing" for a “six-level" downward departure from level 28 (78-97 months) to level 22 (41-51 months) imprisonment.
Born in Yonkers, New York, Curran married Mary Catherine Curran (formerly Seeto Ong), who is the niece of Ong. He has two daughters.
A US Air Force freight traffic specialist for four years, he later worked as a Quality Assurance Manager for a New York plastic company for 11 years.
In the last years of his employment in the plastic company, he opened DanKim Trading and began engaging in the fraudulent Ex-Im Bank scheme, which funded primarily his livelihood. - Joseph Lariosa, GMANews.TV
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