NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Four people have been sentenced for their roles in separate First NBC Bank fraud schemes in New Orleans.

First NBC Bank was a New Orleans-based bank that failed in April 2017.

The four individuals who were sentenced include:

• 72-year-old Glenn E. Diaz — Previously worked for over 30 years as an assistant district attorney for St. Bernard Parish. Was convicted in April.
• 58-year-old Peter J. Jenevein — From Panama City, Florida. Was convicted in April.
• 68-year-old Mark S. Grelle — From Chalmette. Was convicted in April.
• 58-year-old Kenneth Charity — From New Orleans. Was convicted in February.

U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans said Diaz led one of the schemes to defraud the bank. He and his codefendants, Jenevein and Grelle, were convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and substantive bank fraud charges.

The three defrauded the bank of over $550,000 between June and December of 2016. They conspired to defraud the bank through a series of false invoices and other false documents for work supposedly done at a Florida warehouse that was owned by Diaz.

In 2015, Diaz was overdrawing his checking account for purported business expenses. Evans said Diaz was actually depositing the overdrafts into his personal account at another bank.

Then, in June 2016, FNBC started requiring invoices to prove that Diaz was spending the funds on the Florida warehouse, which was collateral for his loans at the bank.

Diaz, Jenevein and Grelle began giving the bank fake invoices to show that Grelle’s company was performing work at the warehouse.

The bank approved the overdrafts based on the invoices, Diaz would write a check to Grelle’s company, Grelle’s company would write a check back to Diaz and Diaz would deposit the check into his personal account at another bank.

In a separate case, Charity was also convicted of conspiring to defraud FNBC.

Evans said Charity and a loan officer at the bank lied in bank loan documents to make it appear that the loan was being used for business purposes. In reality, Charity spent loan proceeds on personal expenses.

In one instance, three loans were dispersed for Charity to enclose a patio at a beignet shop. Evans said the patio was never built, and Charity instead used the funds to pay his overdrafts and loan payments.

The four individuals were sentenced as follows:

• Diaz — Sentenced to 87 months in prison, two years of supervised release, a $10,000 fine, a $1,000 special assessment fee and restitution in an amount to be determined at a later hearing.
• Jenevein — Sentenced to six months in prison, three years of supervised release (18 months in home confinement) and restitution and a special assessment fee of $3,100.
• Grelle — Sentenced to 24 months in prison, two years of supervised release (six months in home confinement) and restitution and a special assessment fee of $1,900.
• Charity — Sentenced to 20 months in prison, three years of supervised release, over $16 million in restitution and a special assessment fee of $100.

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