Overview

• Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, CEO of Ethos Asset Management, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for orchestrating a multimillion-dollar advance-fee loan scam.
• Santos defrauded borrowers of more than $17 million by collecting upfront fees for loans that were never disbursed.
• The scheme involved forging financial statements and audit reports to falsely portray Ethos as having billions in assets, luring victims globally, including in the U.S., Brazil, and Turkey.
• Santos has been in custody since his November 2023 arrest in Newark, New Jersey, and pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft in January 2025.
• A restitution hearing will determine additional compensation for domestic and international victims beyond the $17 million already documented.