WASHINGTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.
WASHINGTON - Jeffrey M. Young-Bey, 68, of the District of Columbia, was sentenced today to 138 months in prison for his role a scheme that stole residential real estate property in order to generate more than $850,000 in fraudulent loans, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Young-Bey was found guilty by a jury on Feb.12, 2024, on 12 federal charges: one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud, two counts of bank fraud, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of money laundering, and five counts of aggravated identity theft. In addition to the term of incarceration, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered five years of supervised release.
Joining in the announcement was FBI Assistant Director in Charge Steven J. Jensen of the Washington Field Office, which led the investigation.
According to the government’s evidence, beginning in November 2019, Young-Bey conspired to steal a residential townhome located in LeDroit Park in order to obtain mortgage financing against the stolen property.
Young-Bey identified a target property owned free and clear by an elderly homeowner. He then prepared a fraudulent property deed, including forged signatures of the true owners and used a fake notary stamp to make the deed appear legitimate.
Young-Bey filed the deed with the District of Columbia Recorder of Deeds, transferring the title from the true owners to a corporate entity. Young-Bey passed a check to the D.C. Recorder of Deeds to pay for the transfer taxes but put a stop payment order on the check before the D.C. government could cash the check. After causing the fake deed to be recorded with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds, he falsely told a mortgage services business that another individual had inherited the property and wanted to take a large loan against the value of the home.
Young-Bey created a fake rental lease and deceived the mortgage company into loaning one of his associates approximately $360,000 against the value of the home they did not own, which was split evenly between the two. Young-Bey used his half of the proceeds to buy a BMW 3-Series valued at approximately $23,000.
After succeeding on the first scam, Young-Bey executed a second fraudulent scheme on a Shephard Park property in the District, forging the names of the two owners, using the fake notary stamp, and recording the deed at the D.C. Recorder of Deeds Office. Young-Bey again put a stop payment order on the transfer tax check before it could be cashed. Young-Bey used the recorded deed to obtain a construction loan of more than $500,000 against the value of the house. Young-Bey took a portion of the loan and purchased a BMW 7-Series worth approximately $120,000. He promptly sold the home to a legitimate real estate company for an additional $42,000 in profit. The fraud was discovered when the real estate company began performing renovations on the home and the rightful owners were alerted to the construction and demolition by their neighbors.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with assistance from the Metropolitan Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher R. Howland and Kevin L. Rosenberg of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Gina Torres. Valuable assistance was provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Rothstein, who investigated and indicted the case, as well as former Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Cheatham, former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Viviana Vasiu, and Paralegal Specialist Lisa Abbe, each of whom assisted in investigating the case. The prosecution team was also assisted by Tonya Jones from the Victim Witness Assistance Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Lenerz from the Appellate Section.
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