Disbarred Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Deceiving Investors with Real Estate Scheme Involving Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach and LA Properties
Prosecutors say defendant DEREK Jones bought pursuits in serious estate that he did not possess
DEREK Jones, a disbarred California lawyer, was sentenced to five and a 50 % yrs in prison by United States District Choose Loretta A. Preska. Jones had pled guilty to one rely of wire fraud for operating fraudulent financial commitment resources, such as true-estate and enterprise-money firms, which defrauded buyers of about $8.6 million from at the very least 2012 by means of 2019.
“When investors buy shares in authentic-estate cash and other investment resources, those people buyers have each ideal to be expecting that the individuals promoting and providing individuals investments are treating them actually and telling them the reality about their investments. Now, Derek Jones, a disbarred attorney, was held accountable for violating this ideal about an extended period, providing pursuits in true estate that he falsely claimed to very own and defrauding his traders out of tens of millions of dollars,” stated U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams.
Jones defrauded victims by investing their cash in businesses and cash he experienced handle of, these kinds of as “BlueRidge”, “Living City” and “Atiswin”, and “Realize Holdings” (a venture funds company), involving 2012-2019. Details about the subject is located in the Indictment, court statements and other publicly submitted documents.
Jones deceived buyers by lying about real-estate developments, like a “resort village” and an current hotel he claimed to management on Semiahmoo Spit in Washington Point out, as well as a ranch in Colorado and other homes in California, such as in Santa Monica, Hermosa Seashore, and Los Angeles. In fact, Jones did not individual or handle any of those houses. Instead of using investors’ money as promised, Jones misappropriated it for personalized use, which includes private-college tuition for his little ones.
As component of this plan, Jones sent counterfeit paperwork, such as doctored bank statements, fake monetary statements and contractual agreements, solid land leases, and fictional asset allocations to buyers. He also utilized other individuals’ names in electronic mail communication to persuade traders his companies ended up feasible.
In total, Jones defrauded buyers over $8.6 million. He was suspended and ultimately disbarred for deliberately misappropriating a client’s funds and misrepresenting it to the court, shoppers, and some others.
