In a major fraud case that has shocked many, the CEO of a financial firm, Ethos Asset Management, has pleaded guilty to a series of serious crimes. Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, who founded the company in San Diego, is now facing prison time after admitting to running a fraudulent business operation that tricked people into giving away millions of dollars.
What Was Ethos Asset Management?
Ethos Asset Management, led by Santos, was supposed to be a company that helped businesses by offering loans. The company claimed to be a “full-service project financing” firm, meaning it promised to give loans to help fund projects in various industries. To get these loans, people and businesses had to pay an upfront fee, which would act as collateral. However, it turned out that Ethos was not providing any loans at all.
Santos and his associates lied to potential borrowers, telling them that Ethos was a successful and trustworthy company. They claimed that the company had enough capital and resources to fund all types of projects. However, the truth was very different. Instead of using the money they received from upfront fees to fund loans, Santos used it for his own purposes, including paying off other borrowers and keeping the money for himself.
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A Web of Lies and Deception
According to Santos’ own confession in court, he and his team manipulated financial documents to make it look like the company had more money than it actually did. For example, in 2021, Santos sent a bank statement to one of the borrowers that falsely showed Ethos had more than $100 million in its accounts. This was not true. The company did not have such large amounts of money.
In another example from 2023, Santos sent fake financial statements to trick borrowers into paying upfront fees. These documents claimed that Ethos had over $2.2 billion in assets, and they even showed forged signatures from an accounting firm to make the statements appear authentic. Santos admitted that he had used the money from these upfront fees for personal gain, never delivering the loans as promised. The fake financial statements were just part of a bigger plan to convince people to pay, even though the company had no intention of following through.
These lies and fraud were not limited to just one country. Ethos operated in multiple countries, including the United States, Brazil, and Turkey. Santos’ scheme affected not only U.S.-based victims but also international ones. The total amount of money lost by victims is currently estimated to be over $17 million, though this number may be much higher once more victims come forward.
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Santos Faces Serious Charges
Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos now faces two serious charges: wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Wire fraud conspiracy means that Santos worked with others to defraud people over the phone, online, and through other means of communication. Aggravated identity theft is a charge related to the fact that Santos forged signatures and documents to make his lies appear more believable.
Santos’ fraudulent activities resulted in a large amount of financial damage to his victims. The U.S. Attorney’s office made it clear that they would work to bring justice to all the people affected by this crime. In addition to the charges Santos is facing, he will also be required to pay restitution, which means he may have to give back some of the money he took from his victims. Santos is scheduled to be sentenced in April 2025, where he could face up to 30 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy and an additional two years for aggravated identity theft.
The investigation into Santos and Ethos was led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who worked diligently to gather all the evidence needed to bring him to justice. This case is a clear reminder of how important it is to be careful when dealing with financial businesses, especially those that promise quick loans or returns.
