A former banker in Houston is going to federal prison. Feliciano Pineda, 38, got 50 months. That is more than four years. He also has to pay back about $2.2 million.
Pineda pleaded guilty on February 12, 2026. He admitted he cheated his old employer with fake loans.
The loans came from the Paycheck Protection Program. People call it PPP. The government made PPP during COVID. It was meant to help small businesses pay their workers. Banks sent out the loan money.
Pineda worked at a bank from April to August 2020. Court records say he pushed through fake PPP loans. Some of the businesses were not even real. Others lied about their money to get more cash.
Pineda did not stop there. He set up his own fake company. He opened a bank account in that company's name. He used it to collect checks from the people who got the fake loans. That is called a kickback. Prosecutors say Pineda kept more than $200,000 for himself.
He also tried to stop the people looking into the scheme, court records show.
Judge George C. Hanks Jr. gave the sentence. He works in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. Pineda also got three years of supervised release. That means officers will check on him after he gets out of prison.
Three agencies worked the case. They were the U.S. Secret Service, the Treasury Department's tax watchdog, and the FDIC's watchdog office. The FDIC insures money in banks. Stephanie Bauman was the lead prosecutor.
Federal agents are still finding people who stole COVID relief money meant for small businesses.
