A former Richmond man pleaded not guilty Friday to a federal indictment charging him with three counts of bank fraud that allegedly occurred in April and May 2008.
The indictment in U.S. District Court in Portland says Howard Hoffman, 52, now of Moorpark, California, was president of Malamute Investment Management in Maine when he accessed a Wachovia Bank account in the name of a person who died in March 2007 and changed the account address to Hoffman’s residence in Richmond.
It says two checks, one for $61,505.29 and another for $19,754.98, were drawn from the deceased’s account and paid to Malamute during that period.
Howard entered pleas of not guilty to all charges at his arraignment before Magistrate Judge John H. Rich III. Howard was arraigned via video from federal court in Los Angeles.
The charges carry a maximum 30-year prison term and a $1 million fine.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, according to court documents.
Hoffman, who is represented by attorney David Van Dyke, remains free on bail and under supervision by the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office, Central District of California.
His case is set on the trial list for July 6 in Portland before Judge Nancy Torresen.
In a separate criminal case handled previously, Hoffman and his wife, Celia Winslow, then both of Scarborough, were indicted in December 2013 in federal court in Maine on a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud with regard to loans obtained to build a home at 19 Frog Lane in Richmond. The indictment said the offense occurred December 2006 through September 2007 and involved writing false invoices. However, in December 2014, that charge was dismissed.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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