“We did everything we were supposed to do, we followed the rules.”
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Misael Rosario founded his company more than 38 years ago with $10,000. Today, that metal distribution business, Century Metals and Supplies, is worth millions of dollars and has more than 80 employees in Central and South Florida.
“For 39 years, all I’ve done is try to be as honest and successful as I could be, and I accomplished that, and now to see all of that gone, is frustrating.”
In his first time speaking with the media, Rosario told WDBO’s Katie Coronado and WFTV’s Jeff Deal he trusted First Horizon Bank with his finances for several years without any issues.
But that changed on March 3rd, when he and his wife received an email during early morning hours alerting them that money had been moved out from their account. But he says this was done without their knowledge.
Rosario explained he had not received communication from Bank officials about the whereabouts of his money until he hired legal representation and filed a lawsuit against First Horizon Bank.
“They failed to protect me,” he said.
“I think it’s important for people to know and understand how you work hard all your life, and people don’t appreciate that, and they simply take you for granted, and not even respond to a question or reply to an answer, Rosario said.”
Rosario’s attorney, Victor Velarde from the law firm Fowler White Burnett said First Horizon Bank officials had prior knowledge of a security breach at their bank which is headquartered in Tennessee. According to the bank’s website they have branches throughout the U.S. including here in Central Florida.
Velarde said this was not the first time this type of scheme was used to access more than $17 million from one of their clients fraudulently, including one case in early January 2026 in Palm Beach county.
Rosario’s attorney also said his client’s money was moved from his account to an IP address in New York and then landed in a bank account linked to a Chinese company. Although Rosario recovered more than a million dollars of the missing money, more than $4 million remain outstanding.
Meanwhile, FBI officials cannot comment on Rosario’s case as it is an on-going investigation. However, Brian Herron, Assistant Special Agent in charge of the FBI’s Orlando Field Office said Florida is at the top of the list of states impacted by other fraud including Business Email Compromise schemes. The FBI’s IC3 most recent 2026 report shows Central Florida has more than $12 million in reported losses in 2026 as of Sept. 30 .
Courtesy of FBI Tampa Field Office: FBI IC3 2026 report
“Understand that the adversaries, the individuals behind these schemes, are leveraging our want to protect ourselves against us, so when you do see that immediate need, just take a pause, and really think through and contemplate what this message is saying,” Herron said.
Herron said bank officials can also fall for social engineering but they have implemented a lot of revalidation steps to prevent fraudulent takeovers.
“A lot of financial institutions have enabled a lot of processes in place to be able to stop that, before a lot of corporations will even do wires, it requires more than one party to authenticate the wire.” He said this kind of process has prevented a lot of frauds from happening.
Additionally, when it’s an international scheme, it’s important to note, a special investigation unit works with international partners, and the process can be long and takes patience, he said.
Herron also explained it’s critical to report fraud within the first 48-72 hours, “So as quick as you can get that report in, the higher the rate, the higher chance we are able to freeze that money at some point through our partner banking.”
WDBO reached out to First Horizon Bank, asked about Rosario’s claim and received this email statement:
“We have filed a motion for partial dismissal, which is attached. Although I can’t provide any additional information at this time, we intend to vigorously defend the case.”
Meanwhile, Velarde said a component of the lawsuit relies on statutes codified in Florida, called the Uniform Commercial Code and other states that require banks to implement “commercially reasonable safety procedures” when governing unauthorized wire transfers.
Velarde said if a court determines that the bank’s security procedures were not commercially reasonable, the bank may be required to reimburse the unauthorized funds.
Meanwhile, Rosario said the bank “failed to protect him.” That hard earned money was for his retirement and his grandchildren and while the investigation continues, he remains motivated for his employees and family.
“I did everything right, and I will fight for what is mine, Rosario said.”
To file a complaint with the FBI: www.ic3.gov
Katie Coronado is an Associate Instructor of Journalism at the University of Central Florida.
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