Fraudster Home Builder Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Investors of More Than $22 Million and to Evading More Than $1.4 Million in Tax Payments
Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. |
Fraudster Home Builder Pleads Guilty to
District of Maryland (410) 209-4800
The guilty plea was announced by
"For over a decade, through a combination of lies and deceit,
According to Belzner's plea agreement, from 2009 through
Specifically, Belzner and the conspirators advised wealthy individuals and investment advisers that in order for the
Instead, Belzner admitted that he directed McCloskey to remove the investors' funds soon after they had been deposited into the escrow account. Belzner and McCloskey then used the stolen funds to pay for their personal and business expenses, as well as to make partial repayments to earlier lenders, to pay fees to some of the victim investors to keep them from demanding the return of their money, and to pay the loan broker for its supposed work and expenses in attempting to locate financing sources.
Belzner and his co-conspirators attempted to conceal the fraud by issuing false bank statements regarding the amount of escrowed funds; falsely representing in e-mails and by phone the balance of escrow funds and the date when the investors' money would be returned; and returning part of the victim's investment using funds fraudulently obtained from other investors. Belzner also wrote scripts for the conspirators to use in telephone conversations or in written communications to lull the victims and their representatives into believing that their escrow monies were safe and would be returned to them as promised in the escrow agreements, as well as to persuade victims not to pursue demands or legal action for the immediate return of their funds.
The government contends that Belzner and his conspirators' fraudulent scheme caused losses in excess of
Belzner also pleaded guilty to evasion of assessed tax payments. In 1995, 1996, and 1998, Belzner stole
To avoid paying those taxes, Belzner admitted that between
Belzner faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison each for wire fraud and for conspiracy and a maximum of five years in prison for evasion of assessed tax payments. U.S. District Judge
Today's announcement is part of efforts underway by
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