CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A New Jersey couple has been indicted for allegedly running an investment scam on real estate properties in Northeast Ohio.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the couple is being accused of taking investors’ money with a promise to receive high returns on the development of real estate properties mostly in the Cleveland area.
The scam operated as a Ponzi scheme, with victims being misled and lied to, and some early investors paid with funds from later investors.
The DOJ said the couple are 50-year-old Gregory Parker and 50-year-old Danielle Parker, both of New Jersey, and both are being indicted with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud.
According to allegations in the 65-page indictment, the married couple carried about the real estate investment scheme between January 2017 to December 2023.
Victims believed they were purchasing properties in the Cleveland and East Cleveland areas, to be developed into multi-family dwellings that would generate above-market returns from rental income.
Instead, the Parkers took the investors’ money and used it to repay earlier investors and fund their lavish lifestyle.
Investigators learned the couple would host seminars in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, including one in the Cleveland Hyatt Regency in May 2022, the DOJ said.
People and potential victim investors would attend the seminars after seeing the Parkers’ luxurious lifestyle on a social media platform.
Victim investors were typically charged between $2,000 to $5,000 to enroll in the Parker’s real estate investment and mentorship program, and then the couple would purportedly obtain rental properties on the victim’s behalf in exchange for an agreed-upon down payment.
The DOJ said victims would receive little information about the properties they believed to have purchased, and when they would contact the Parkers, the couple would often have delayed responses or run-around excuses.
Investigators found that some victims never received a property, or they received a property without a clear title, or others received a condemned, dilapidated or otherwise uninhabitable property and were forced to sell, or attempt to sell, the property they did receive at a loss.
While the indictment focuses on 13 victims, investigators believe there are more, the DOJ said.
The Department of Justice said if you believe to be a victim in the matter to contact the Cleveland FBI ParkerInvestorTips@fbi.gov with “Parker Investor” in the subject line.
If the couple is convicted, each defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after a review of factors unique to the case, including prior criminal records, if any, roles in the offense, and the characteristics of the violations.
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