The Federal Reserve banned six former bank employees, including two previously at Bank of America Corp.'s wealth management unit, from the industry for fraudulently obtaining loans designed to provide economic relief to small businesses during the pandemic.
The Fed on Tuesday announced the penalties for Autumn Jordan and Manuel F. Pinazo, who previously worked at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, along with Dedryck O. Carson, Wendy Rodriguez Legon, Michael T. Lemley, and Tracy L. Mallory, who were at Regions Financial Corp.
The regulator said all six applied for assistance under one of the government's Covid-19 relief programs "based on false and fraudulent representations and used the funds for unauthorized personal expenses."
The former employees obtained funds through the Small Business Administration's Covid-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, according to the Fed. Authorities have been trying to crack down on abuses of that federal effort and others.
