Jay Leonard of Alexandria, Virginia was indicted in August by a federal grand jury for fraud related to a scheme involving fraudulent purchases of properties located in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.  Also included in the indictment was a scam to sell non-existent resort property to unsuspecting investors.  The fraud occurred between February 2006 and September 2008.

Leonard, a 43-year-old title agent, co-conspired with others to fraudulently solicit financing from victims in Maryland to fund a non-existent $10 million spa resort that Leonard and others claimed they were developing in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.  The indictment states that Leonard used his title agent status to falsely represent that he was closing deals for the spa resort.  Based on the false representation, Maryland victims invested to the tune of $478,000, which was wired into Leonard’s bank account.

According to the indictment, Leonard, working with several others, served as title agent for numerous straw buyers who purchased around 25 properties in Virginia, Maryland and the Washington D.C.  Those working with Leonard provided fraudulent documentation to quality for mortgages and disguise the actual purchaser of the property.  Leonard and a co-conspirator allegedly signed false affidavits that claimed each property was the primary residence.

In addition, Leonard allegedly received a kickback from the settlement funds.  The wire transfers were disguised as reimbursements for renovations completed on the homes prior to closing.  The fraudster wire transferred a total of $515,820 to other co-conspirators, and most of the homes involved went into foreclosure.  Recorded losses exceeded $7 million.

Facing a maximum sentence of 30 years for each of five counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud, Leonard’s wardrobe could be confined to orange jumpsuits for the remainder of his life.