SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – A man has been convicted in a bank fraud case, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a release. Officials think he committed the crime to deal with gambling debts.
Marc Candelaria, 36, of Wantagh, New York, was charged in connection to an assault and bank fraud case out of Santa Fe. A federal jury convicted him after deliberating for 39 minutes.
Court documents and evidence stated Candelaria’s father-in-law experienced a home invasion in Santa Fe by an armed, and masked, intruder in September 2021. The intruder made the victim write a blank check for $23,000. The intruder beat the victim and left him in a closet. The victim didn’t know who the intruder was and had issues remembering the crime because of his injuries.
The day after the invasion, the bank contacted the victim’s wife about a check due to different handwritings. The wife looked at the check and saw it was made out to Candelaria. Candelaria reportedly told her he, and the victim, were going to invest in Bitcoin together. The wife doubted this, but she wrote him another check for the same amount.
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When the victim found out, he told his wife he didn’t agree to invest in Bitcoin or write a check for Candelaria. However, he recalled that he was forced to write a check during the home invasion. The Santa Fe Police Department was provided copies of the checks.
A deposit slip was found in Candelaria’s car during a search warrant. It showed the check was deposited on the morning of the home invasion.
Candelaria is awaiting sentencing. He could face up to 30 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
In 2021, Candelaria was also arrested for robbing a Santa Fe bank.
