Mail Fraud Charge Lands Ruskin Banker In Prison: U.S. DOJ

TAMPA, FL — A Ruskin man was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for mail fraud by a U.S. district court judge in Tampa, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Benjamin Lara, 39, pleaded guilty to the charge on Nov. 13. He’s also been ordered to pay more than $68,000 in restitution.

Between March 2016 and July 2017, Lara worked as a personal banker at a bank in west Bradenton.

While working there, he helped an 85-year-old bank customer, the DOJ said. He used the customer’s information to send 31 automatic bill payment checks in his name from that customer’s accounts to his home in Ruskin.

Lara also electronically transferred funds from the victim’s account onto three prepaid cards. In total, between December 2017 and July 2019, Lara stole $68,086 from the victim’s bank account, the agency said.