Virginia Man Charged with $6.6 Million Wire Fraud Scheme

BOSTON - A dual national of the United States and the Philippines has been charged in federal court in Boston with allegedly stealing more than $6.6 million from his employer over the course of a decade.

Ricardo Fontanilla, 66, of Fairfax, Va., was charged in a criminal complaint with wire fraud. Fontanilla was arrested at his home on May 3, 2026 and made his initial appearance yesterday in federal court in Arlington, Va. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

According to the allegations in the complaint, between 2013 and December 2025, Fontanilla worked at the Victim Company, a global financial services company which had its U.S. headquarters in Massachusetts, as a Security Administration Services employee. Fontanilla's role allegedly gave him access to the Victim Company's financial systems, which tracked borrowers' mortgage payments in connection with residential mortgage-backed securities-a kind of financial instrument that allows investors to purchase ownership in a pool of residential mortgage loans. Beginning at least as early as 2016, Fontanilla allegedly altered the Victim Company's records to make it appear that the Victim Company was receiving excess payments from mortgage servicing companies that were collecting borrower payments. As alleged, Fontanilla fraudulently transferred these supposedly "excess" payments back to one mortgage servicer (Company A), and then falsely informed Company A representatives that the Victim Company had mistakenly refunded these amounts. In directing Company A to return the mistaken refunds to the Victim Company, Fontanilla allegedly directed Company A to wire the funds to a personal bank account he controlled at Wells Fargo.

Records for the Wells Fargo account show Fontanilla received more than $6.6 million in wires from Company A between 2016 and 2025 and that Fontanilla allegedly made payments from the account for more than $3.2 million in personal credit card payments to Capital One, JPMorgan Chase and American Express; $778,000 in mortgage and loan payments; more than $200,000 in cash and cash-equivalent withdrawals; spent more than $70,000 at Cartier locations in Italy, Spain, the Philippines and the United States; and purchased a vehicle for approximately $77,000 -amounts far exceeding the approximately $83,000 annual salary Fontanilla received from the Victim Company.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, restitution, and forfeiture. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, Ted Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office and Brian Tucker, Special Agent in Charge, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Office of Inspector General made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Frauds Unit, is prosecuting the case.

On April 7, 2026, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division. The core mission of the Fraud Division is to zealously investigate and prosecute those who steal or fraudulently misuse taxpayer dollars. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.