Two Real Estate Professionals Indicted for Fraud and Conspiracy

           WASHINGTON – Shaun Miller, 39, of Bethesda, Maryland, and Thomas Randolph, 49, of Oakton, Virginia, were charged in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in a seven-count indictment today. U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Timothy M. Dunham, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division made the announcement.

           The seven-count indictment was returned by a federal grand jury charging Miller and Randolph with conspiracy, mail fraud, and monetary transactions involving criminally derived proceeds; the indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation.

            According to the indictment, from at least October 2014 to June 2015, Shaun Miller was a loan broker earning money by coordinating loans for real estate investors from private mortgage lenders; Thomas Randolph was a settlement agent for a settlement company located in the District of Columbia. The indictment alleges that Miller and Marlon Meade, as well as others, submitted inflated Personal Financial Statements, altered bank account statements, and false IRS Forms 1040 Tax Returns to private mortgage lenders in an attempt to trick the lenders into loaning in excess of $5.6 million in loans for the purchase of multiple real estate properties in the District of Columbia. The indictment further alleges that the conspirators, including Randolph and Meade, also falsely inflated the sales price to obtain excess lender funds in order to illegally recycle the lender’s own money as the borrower’s down-payment and to siphon off funds for their own enrichment. The conspirators and others generally failed to repay the loans and the properties fell into foreclosure for a loss to the lenders.

           U.S. Attorney Liu and Special Agent in Charge Dunham also announced the plea of Marlon Meade, 40, of northeast Washington, D.C. on September 4, 2019. Meade pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and monetary transactions involving criminally derived proceeds; his case is currently pending before the Honorable James E. Boasberg, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

           An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

           U.S. Attorney Liu and Special Agent in Charge Dunham commended the work performed by Special Agents from the FBI. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including: Victim/Witness Services Coordinator Tonya Jones; Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Tasha Harris; Paralegal Specialist Amanda Rohde; Litigation Technology Supervisor Leif Hickling; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Cheatham who is investigating the case.