His access to the banking sector is now restricted. The U.S. Federal Reserve has barred a former Banco Popular de Puerto Rico employee from working in the regulated banking industry following a case involving at least 50 unauthorized transactions from customer accounts, DKNews.kz reports.
According to the Federal Reserve order, between 2023 and 2025 Gadiel J. Rosario-Alvarado, while working as a Telephone Banking Consultant, misappropriated approximately $65,747 by using customer funds to pay down his own credit card and that of a relative. The Board of Governors announced the enforcement action on August 27 in its official Federal Reserve release.
At least 50 transactions involved customer accounts
The activity stretched over nearly two years.
According to the Fed, Rosario-Alvarado worked at Banco Popular de Puerto Rico as a Telephone Banking Consultant from 2023 to 2025.
During that period, the regulator says he carried out at least 50 transactions, debiting money from customer accounts and applying the funds to his own credit card and a relative’s credit card. The total amount was approximately $65,747.
The number of transactions makes the case particularly notable: the order describes a series of unauthorized debits rather than a single transfer or isolated error.
The bank fired him in June 2025
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico terminated Rosario-Alvarado on June 11, 2025.
The Fed order states that the dismissal came after he admitted conducting some of the unauthorized transactions.
The regulator said the conduct constituted violations of law or regulation, unsafe or unsound banking practices, or breaches of fiduciary duty.
It also said the conduct involved personal dishonesty or willful or continuing disregard for the safety and soundness of the bank.
The regulatory ban, however, came more than a year after the dismissal.
The ban reaches far beyond Banco Popular
The Federal Reserve action does not merely prevent Rosario-Alvarado from returning to his former employer.
Without prior written approval from the Board of Governors and, where required, another federal financial regulator, he is prohibited from participating in the affairs of a range of financial institutions.
These include insured depository institutions, their holding companies and subsidiaries, as well as certain foreign banks and related entities.
The order also prevents him from serving as an officer, director, employee or other institution-affiliated party at institutions covered by the restriction. It additionally limits certain activities involving voting rights, proxies and authorizations.
In practical terms, dismissal from one bank has become a barrier to returning to the broader regulated U.S. banking sector.
But this is not a criminal conviction
There is an important legal distinction.
The measure is a consent prohibition order, meaning Rosario-Alvarado agreed to the issuance of the order.
The document states that he consented to its terms and waived certain rights, including rights to a hearing, judicial review and challenges to the basis or enforceability of the order.
At the same time, the settlement was entered without Rosario-Alvarado admitting or denying the allegations made or implied by the Federal Reserve, for the purpose of resolving the matter without a formal proceeding or extended litigation.
That distinction matters: the published Federal Reserve order is not a criminal court judgment.
The order does, however, separately state that the bank terminated Rosario-Alvarado after he admitted conducting some of the unauthorized transactions.
Violating the ban could trigger further penalties
The restriction cannot simply be ignored.
The Federal Reserve order says that any violation may separately expose Rosario-Alvarado to civil or criminal penalties, or both, under U.S. law.
There is also no predetermined expiration date.
The order remains fully effective until the Board of Governors expressly stays, modifies, terminates or suspends it in writing.
It became effective on August 24, 2026, while the Federal Reserve publicly announced the action on August 27.
The risk came from inside the bank
There was no phishing link, fake “security department” call or stolen SMS code in this case.
The Federal Reserve materials concern someone who worked inside the bank and had professional access to banking operations.
That puts the case in a separate category of financial risk: banks must protect customer funds not only from external fraud but also from misuse by employees who have legitimate access to internal systems.
The full restrictions are set out in the Federal Reserve’s official enforcement order. As long as the order remains in effect, Rosario-Alvarado may return to institutions covered by it only with the required prior regulatory approval.
