On April 4, 1996, Castro was indicted in New York by District Attorney Morgenthau, along with his son, Orlando Castro Castro, and grandson Jorge Castro Barredo, on charges of a scheme to defraud in the first degree. The three Castros were convicted on grand larceny charges on February 19, 1997. In April of that year he was sentenced to a term of one to three years in prison. The larceny was defrauding depositors of "Banco Progreso International de Puerto Rico" of as much as US$55 million. His crime also cost the government of Venezuela more than US$8 million.