A federal judge sentenced Franco Fuentes to 57 months in prison for running a bank impersonation scheme that drained hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly victims across San Diego. Fuentes and his associates called victims while falsely posing as bank employees investigating fraud on their accounts, then tricked them into handing over their bank cards.
According to FBI San Diego
Fuentes admitted that he and his criminal associates used the stolen cards to steal directly from elderly victims' accounts.
Victims Describe Lasting Fear and Financial Devastation
U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said Fuentes targeted elderly victims because they were easy targets, treating their bank accounts as “his personal ATM” to steal their money, dignity and peace of mind, per the Department of Justice.
A Task Force Built to Fight a Growing Local Problem
FBI San Diego is part of the San Diego Elder Justice Task Force, which combines federal, state and local resources aimed at protecting older residents from scammers.
The scale of the problem is significant. The San Diego County District Attorney's Office has said elder fraud schemes target more than 1,000 local victims annually, resulting in over $100 million in reported losses across the county each year, according to the San Diego County News Center. Officials have also noted that embarrassment causes significant underreporting of senior financial crimes, meaning the true toll could be even higher.
Statewide Numbers Show No Sign of Slowing
California seniors lost $1.4 billion to financial fraud in 2025, a 68 percent increase over 2024 that kept the state at the top of the nation for elder fraud losses, Hoodline previously reported.
Fuentes' bank impersonation case was prosecuted federally, though California law also carries its own penalties. Under California Penal Code Section 368, financial abuse or theft targeting a victim aged 65 or older is a felony punishable by up to four years in state prison and fines up to $10,000, as Hoodline has noted in coverage of a separate Ventura County elder scam case.
Fuentes' sentencing follows a string of recent Southern California elder fraud prosecutions. Hoodline has previously covered a $42 million senior scam tied to a local money-laundering cell.
