MEDINA, OH – A brazen mortgage fraud scheme targeting six luxury properties in Medina, Ohio, has landed a Strongsville real estate agent in federal prison. Thomas G. France, 44, was sentenced to 125 months – over ten years – and ordered to pay over $3 million in restitution after being found guilty of conspiracy and bank fraud. This isn’t a victimless crime; taxpayers are left footing the bill for these calculated deceptions.
The scheme, cooked up in 2006 and 2007, involved artificially inflating the value of homes built by Joseph Beccia, 63, of Richfield, and his company, Horizon Construction. Beccia, facing financial ruin after failing to sell the properties, turned to France and a career criminal, Joseph Jones, for a solution. The solution? A classic pump-and-dump, preying on the mortgage system.
According to court documents, France, acting as the real estate agent, advised Beccia to leverage Jones’s “system” – using straw buyers to purchase the properties. The plan involved pulling the properties off the market and relisting them at wildly inflated prices. France and Jones promised to handle the loan officers, leaving Beccia to simply sign off on the fraudulent paperwork. Beccia agreed, desperate to recoup his construction costs. The indictment details how they calculated the inflated prices, factoring in Beccia’s debts and Jones’s desired profit.
The manipulation was blatant. France re-listed five of the six properties with staggering price hikes: 2940 Sutton Lane jumped from $599,000 to $950,000; 4281 Fox Glen Drive from $395,000 to $647,000; 4320 Perian Court from $399,000 to $650,000; 3006 Sutton Lane from $529,500 to $920,000; and 4740 Lake Forest Trial from $925,000 to $1.4 million. These weren’t renovations; they were lies designed to fleece lenders.
The house of cards predictably collapsed. Each property ultimately went into foreclosure, resulting in a staggering $3.3 million loss. Beccia wasn’t the only one facing consequences. Alex Blackmore, 50, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay $1.1 million in restitution for his involvement. Beccia himself received a two-year prison sentence and the same $3 million+ restitution order.
Assistant United States Attorney Mark S. Bennett prosecuted the case, stemming from an investigation by the Cleveland offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the United States Secret Service. This case serves as a stark reminder that those who exploit the financial system for personal gain will be held accountable – even if it takes years to unravel the deceit. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and others like it, shining a light on the dark underbelly of white-collar crime.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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