Filipino-American Man to Plead Guilty in $7.1 Million Fraud Scheme

A 66-year-old dual citizen of the United States and the Philippines has agreed to plead guilty to a federal wire fraud charge after prosecutors accused him of stealing more than $7.1 million from his employer over more than a decade.

Ricardo Fontanilla, of Fairfax, Virginia, was charged with wire fraud and has agreed to plead guilty, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. He was arrested at his home in May 2026 and was later ordered detained pending trial.

Federal prosecutors said Fontanilla worked from 2013 until December 2025 for a global financial services company whose U.S. headquarters are in Massachusetts. His job in Security Administration Services allegedly gave him access to financial systems used to track mortgage payments connected to residential mortgage-backed securities.

According to court documents, Fontanilla allegedly manipulated the company’s accounting records beginning in 2013 to make it appear that mortgage servicing companies had sent excess payments.

Prosecutors said Fontanilla would then send the supposedly excess funds back to one mortgage servicing company before falsely telling its representatives that the refund had been made by mistake.

When the mortgage servicer was instructed to return the money, authorities allege Fontanilla directed the company to wire the funds into a personal Wells Fargo bank account that he controlled.

Investigators said more than $7.1 million was allegedly wired to Fontanilla between 2013 and 2025.

Court records show the money was allegedly used for extensive personal spending, including more than $4.78 million in credit card payments, about $873,000 in mortgage and loan payments, more than $200,000 in cash and cash-equivalent withdrawals, at least $300,000 in brokerage account deposits and approximately $125,000 in payments to Toyota.

Prosecutors said Fontanilla also spent substantial amounts on luxury brands and premium airline travel throughout the United States, Caribbean and Asia spending that authorities said was far beyond his approximately $83,000 annual salary.

The wire fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. He could also be ordered to pay restitution and forfeit assets.