Berman Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets: BRMN)
Company News- April 4, 2008: Prepaid Card Program Manager Bank Freedom Hires Former Washington Mutual Bank Senior Analyst to Head AML-BSA Compliance Department
Bank Freedom a wholly owned subsidiary of Berman Holdings, Inc. (Pink Sheets: BRMN) announced earlier today it has hired Marcius De La Cruz as Vice President of Compliance for its Bank Freedom prepaid MasterCard Card products. Bank Freedom has recently entered the prepaid card industry with its Bank Freedom Prepaid MasterCard which it offers on its website www.BankFreedom.com. The BankFreedom Prepaid MasterCard is issued by MetaBank pursuant to license by MasterCard International Incorporated and is available online.
Mr. De La Cruz has 25 years of experience in the financial markets and compliance. From 1983 - 1997 he worked in local government for the county of Los Angeles as a housing compliance officer and the city of Glendale as an analyst. In 1999, his career focus shifted to the financial service markets where he went to work for Washington Mutual Bank. At Washington Mutual, Mr. De La Cruz held the position of Senior Financial Analyst and was responsible for maintaining up to date knowledge of regulatory issues including: Patriot Act, CIP, ECOA, Anti-Money Laundering, OFAC and FinCen monitoring, HMDA and Truth in Lending.
Since 2006 Mr. De La Cruz has been consulting with Southern California banks and companies, which included senior AML/BSA positions for Union Bank, First Vietnamese American Bank, and AML Solutions. He received a BA in Business Administration from California State University at Los Angeles. Completed Identity Theft Red Flags Program February 2008, California Bankers Association- Compliance School Completed June 2007 and Washington Mutual Corporate Commercial Credit Program Completed October 2002.
"We are very pleased to have Mr. De La Cruz joining our team," says Robert Christiansen, COO of Bank Freedom. "Marcius brings a wealth of experience in critical AML-BSA compliance as well as detail fraud prevention. His extensive skills in building training programs, technology, and management enable Bank Freedom to continue our impressive growth in the prepaid card market." "I am very pleased and honored to join the Bank Freedom team," says Mr. De La Cruz. "I look forward to helping the underbanked in the United States gain access to safe financial tools. With management's zero tolerance policy, I believe that the Bank Freedom products are the perfect solution for these times." Bruce Berman, CEO of Bank Freedom stated, "Marcius is a great asset. His experience and reputation in AML-BSA compliance is impeccable and crucial to our Bank Freedom Prepaid MasterCard program expansion. Mr. De La Cruz is here to ensure that our expansion in the consumer prepaid market follows our stringent policy of doing more than is required to stay compliant with all rules and regulations."
