Joshua Matthew Houchins, Obstruction of Justice and Firearms Offenses, North Carolina 2020

Raleigh Real Estate Developer Charged with Obstruction of Justice and Firearms Offenses

A federal grand jury has returned a superseding indictment charging Joshua Matthew Houchins, 36, with obstruction of justice and firearms offenses.

Houchins, a real estate developer from Sanford, North Carolina, operated several real estate development companies in Raleigh between 2014 and 2018, including Rossshire Development LLC, Greenstone Ventures LLC, and Modern South Development LLC.

The indictment alleges that Houchins used these entities to carry out a fraud upon his real estate development investors. Houchins solicited investment monies by telling victims that their money would be 'put to work' on a specific property, and further represented that the investments would be secured by deeds of trust filed with the county register of deeds.

However, the indictment alleges that Houchins did not put all of the investor funds to work on the property on which the investor was solicited to invest, and instead, regularly used investor funds on other properties, or on personal expenses. In some instances, Houchins did not even own the property that was the subject of the investment, and as such, could not truthfully grant a deed of trust to the investor.

The indictment alleges that after Houchins diverted investor money away from the property on which the funds were supposed to be spent, Houchins failed to develop and sell the properties, as he represented he would. Houchins then defaulted on the notes by failing to pay investors their promised returns. The investors were unable to foreclose upon the investment properties because Houchins had not secured the promissory notes with a deed of trust filed, thereby resulting in losses to the investors.

The superseding indictment also alleges that Houchins obstructed justice by destroying evidence and sending threatening communications to friends and family of his wife, including photographs of Houchins wearing a mask and tactical vest.

Houchins is charged with nine counts of Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, each of which carry a punishment of up to 20 years in prison. Houchins is also charged with three counts of Conducting Monetary Transactions in Criminally Derived Property, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957, each of which carry a punishment of up to 10 years in prison. Houchins is also charged with Obstruction of Justice and Firearms offenses.

Houchins was arrested in March 2020, at which time he was in possession of a Ruger AR-15, 4 magazines, a double canister magazine containing 100 rounds of ammunition, two boxes of .223-caliber ammunition, and a tactical vest.

Houchins is currently being held without bond and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each of the nine counts of Wire Fraud, and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for each of the three counts of Conducting Monetary Transactions in Criminally Derived Property.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ednc/pr/following-charges-fraud-raleigh-real-estate-developer-charged-obstruction-justice-and