MySpace Photo
An image from Thomas’ MySpace page.
The head of a mortgage fraud ring asked Jo’mell Thomas to open a bank account for a fake construction company as part of a scheme to con lenders out of millions of dollars. “Like an idiot, I did so,” Thomas told a federal judge.
Thomas also recruited “straw buyers” and helped process ill-gotten gains. He admitted as much in federal court in Hartford Monday afternoon as he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
He faces up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, payment of restitution, and up to five years of supervised release. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on June 29 at 4 p.m.
Thomas found New Haven-area prey through come-ons like this one (pictured left) on MySpace:
“IM ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW FRIENDS TO MAKE MONEY WITH AND PARTY… SO IF YOUR LOOKING TO MAKE SOME MONEY HIT ME UP!!!”
Thomas’s was the latest guilty plea in the ongoing unraveling of an extensive mortgage fraud ring that operated out of New Haven. Fifteen scammers allegedly swindled government and private lenders out of millions of dollars by taking out falsified, inflated mortgages on houses, then pocketing the money and letting the homes fall into foreclosure
Federal investigators claim that the group took in $10 million running this scam on 35 New Haven properties and kept rundown homes in disrepair in struggling city neighborhoods. Several of the straw buyers have pleaded guilty. Some of the alleged conspirators claim innocence.
Facebook Photo
Thomas, who is 29 and now lives in Wallingford, is not innocent. That’s what he told U.S. District Judge Alvin Thomas on Monday.
He appeared in the second-floor courtroom wearing a cream-colored suit and shiny white shoes, alongside his lawyer, Richard Brown.
Judge Thompson led him through the process of pleading guilty, making sure that Thomas knew what rights he was waiving to do so. At one point, the judge asked him to explain, in his own words, what he had done.
Thomas said he conspired with Syed Babar, the alleged mastermind of the scheme, to defraud banks. Babar pleaded guilty Feb. 1. Thomas acted as a recruiter, finding people willing to sign on as buyers in false mortgages, for houses they couldn’t afford and didn’t plan to live in.
“I recruited four people who would be straw buyers,” Thomas told the judge.
At Babar’s request, Thomas created a fictitious construction company called Sheda Telle Construction, LLC, he said. And he delivered money gained in the scheme’s transactions.
“I regret it,” Thomas said.
Thomas said Babar told him that “sheda telle” means “ring the bell and run.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Glover offered the government’s version of events.
“Thomas recruited numerous individuals to act as straw buyers,” Glover said. “The defendant knew these straw buyers would be used for false mortgage applications. … Mr. Thomas was paid after closings in which he recruited straw buyers.”
Between March 2007 and October 2009, almost $1 million was deposited and withdrawn from a business account taken out by Thomas for Sheda Telle Construction, Glover said. Thomas was responsible for distributing money amongst the co-conspirators after closings, Glover said. Strraw buyers picked up $10,000 in cash in a typical transaction, just for pretending to buy a house.
Fore instance, on Nov. 20 2008, the conspiracy closed on a house on Hazel Street. $76,000 was wired from a lawyer’s account to the Sheda Telle account. Thomas took out $74,000 the next day, Glover said.
Thomas said he agreed with the government’s account. His lawyer said he disputes the amount of money the government says Thomas earned directly from the scheme.
“The reason this all came about was through friendship,” Thomas began, before his lawyer interrupted him.
After conferring with his client, Brown told the judge that “in the beginning he did not know all the information. … Not that he wasn’t a willing participant when push came to shove.”
Just past 3:30 p.m., Thomas officially entered his guilty plea.
In arguing that he be allowed to walk free on a bond, Brown said that Thomas is employed and has roots in Connecticut. “When the government has asked him to do things, he’s done those things.”
Thomas was released on a $50,000 non-surety bond.
After the hearing, Brown said his client’s guilty plea was not the result of a deal with the government. Prosecutors have not asked for Thomas’ cooperation in the case, Brown said. That’s how confident they are that they’ve got it all sewn up, he said.