Florida Man Guilty of Mortgage Fraud, Identity Theft
A California man has been found guilty of mortgage fraud and identity theft charges in connection with a scheme involving two waterfront properties in Broward County, Florida.
George French Jones, Jr., 50, of Santa Monica, California, pled guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in a federal court in Florida.
According to court documents, in early 2018, Jones identified two residential properties in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which he fraudulently pledged as collateral in order to obtain mortgage loans from a private lender.
The two properties were owned by corporate entities that Jones had no affiliation with and which were in fact owned by independent third parties. To execute his fraudulent loan scheme, Jones created fake identification documents and email addresses in order to impersonate officers of the corporate owners of the two properties.
Jones then submitted bogus loan applications and other documents to a private lender in which he pretended to be the owners of the Fort Lauderdale properties. As a result of this scheme, Jones defrauded the private lender out of approximately $1.7 million dollars.
Jones faces a maximum possible sentence of 22 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola on March 1, 2019, at 8:30 a.m.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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