Dive Brief:
- A Boston-area real estate developer pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding 10 investors out of almost $10 million, according to the Patriot Ledger.
- Daniel J. Flynn III admitted to engaging in a Ponzi-like scheme in which he solicited investments under the guise of buying property but actually paid off existing loans with the money. Prosecutors agreed to Flynn's plea deal, but allege that the victim count is closer to 150 and that the amount he should repay totals $21 million.
- Flynn previously pleaded innocent to the charges back in October. He now faces between 75 and 95 months in prison under the sentence, but the U.S. attorney's office recommendation is that he be sentenced to no more than 70 months.
Dive Insight:
The construction industry isn't new to fraud cases and, similarly, in March 2016, Chicago real estate developer Laurance Freed was convicted of several counts of fraud and making false statements to financial institutions after he tried to secure a line of credit to save his struggling company. Freed allegedly used money from other projects and double-pledged bonds as loan collateral so that he could finance the redevelopment of a Chicago department store. He could be sentenced to as many as 230 years in prison.
Recently, one of the most noteworthy fraud cases centered around foreign investors willing to shell out $500,000 to $1 million for an expedited path to a green card. Seattle-area developer Lobsang Dargey pleaded guilty last month to diverting more than $240 million in EB-5 visa program investor money to unauthorized projects and also to personal luxury items for family and friends. The EB-5 program designates which projects are acceptable for investment and, by putting investor money into other developments, Dargey has put many individuals at risk for deportation.