PORTLAND, Maine — A former Richmond man pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to committing bank fraud in 2008 when he was president of an investment firm.
Howard Hoffman, 52, who now lives in Moorpark, California, about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles, appeared by video conference from California.
Hoffman was indicted April 7 by a federal grand jury in Portland on three counts of bank fraud. He is accused of diverting $80,000 from the account of a man who had died in 2007.
The statute of limitations for federal bank fraud is 10 years.
Hoffman was not arrested before his arraignment, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich III released Hoffman on $5,000 unsecured bail. Hoffman’s trial was tentatively scheduled for July 6.
Hoffman was charged in 2013 in U.S. District Court in Portland with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. That charge was dismissed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The victims in the 2013 and 2015 cases are not the same, according to court documents.
If convicted on the most recent charges, Hoffman faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million.