Charles Wooden and Hendrickx H. Toussaint of Georgia have been sentenced to federal prison for perpetuating and operating a real state Ponzi scheme that swindled almost $5 million from out-of-state and foreign investors.
Wooden was sentenced to seven years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release, and is going to have a restitution pay amounting to $2.4 million.
In a report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wooden, 42, would introduce himself as a real estate broker working for Aeon Capital Management, LLC. He told the out-of-state and foreign investors that he could locate and oversee the purchase of residential properties and apartment buildings for them or on their behalf.
Toussaint was a licensed attorney at that time and was introduced by Wooden to the investors as the lawyer who would escrow investor funds and close real estate purchases for Wooden and the investors. Toussaint agreed to hold funds from investors and disburse such funds to purchase real estate for the investors' benefit as their escrow agent.
Toussaint was disbarred and was sentenced to go to prison for three years and 10 months, with a restitution pay of $1.2 million.
Wooden and Toussaint worked together between 2009 and 2012, and have enticed foreign investors to invest over $5 million for the purchase of Atlanta, Georgia area real estate.
Wooden purchased some properties for the investors but didn't spend all the money for their allotted use and instead used the funds from investors to pay "profits" from short-term real estate "flips" that in fact never occurred, and to pay rental income to investors from properties that in fact had not been purchased.
The duo, with their other accomplice, would present fake documents that includes HUD-1 settlement statements, bogus real estate deeds, and in one instance, a fake bank account statement reflecting that the investor's money was still being held in escrow.
Their case was investigated by the joint efforts of the FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service, with the help of Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Gilfillan, who prosecuted the case.
