California Man Pleads Guilty to Real Estate Scam

Dale Johnson, a 46-year-old man from Los Angeles, California, has pleaded guilty to a multi-million dollar real estate scheme in Denver, Colorado. Johnson, who is free on bond, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Wiley Y. Daniel on January 21, 2014 at 11:00 a.m.

According to the indictment, Johnson was a member of a business group called ‘Synergy’ based out of Culver City, California. In early 2006, Synergy was made up of Johnson (President & Chief Executive Officer), Donald Beverly (Vice President of New Business Development), Ronald Benjamin (Regional Manager and Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing), Jimmy Hutchinson (Chief Financial Officer), and Vincent Jackson (Vice President of Marketing).

Johnson and other Synergy members began purchasing multiple residential properties in Colorado, using the individual member’s personal credit history to qualify for the purchases. The homes were typically purchased in the individual member’s own name, and Johnson and others would help arrange for the purchase by a Synergy member.

As part of the scheme, Synergy members, with the assistance of Goldberg and other persons, submitted ‘uniform residential loan applications’ to lenders in connection with qualifying for home loans. In a number of loan applications, Synergy members and other buyers provided, or assisted in providing, materially false statements, representations, and omissions to real estate lenders, or the lenders’ agents.

Johnson and other Synergy members arranged for a portion of lender funds from home purchases to be paid to Synergy members as ‘kickbacks’. These kickbacks were often concealed from lenders through a series of false statements and material omissions made in connection with closings for properties or in connection with the loan documents submitted to the lenders.

Johnson’s co-defendants, Donald Beverly, Scott Goldberg, and Vincent Jackson, have also pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme. Beverly is scheduled to be sentenced on November 20, 2013, Goldberg on October 15, 2013, and Jackson was sentenced to 60 months of probation on October 17, 2012.

Wire fraud carries a penalty of not more than 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. Money laundering carries a penalty of not more than 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 per count. The case was investigated by agents with the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Postal Service, and the U.S. Secret Service.

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