The Federal Court of the Eastern District of North Carolina sentenced Lynda Steele to serve 41 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for committing real estate fraud in Cumberland County.
A criminal information report was filed on July 29, 2010 to look into Steele’s wrongdoings. On Sept. 14, Steele pleaded guilty to wire fraud. The court is requiring Steele to pay more than $1 million in restitution.
“Taking money from people through false statements is just another way of stealing that money,” said George E.B. Holding, a United States attorney. “The defendant’s fraud wrecked havoc in the lives of the people who were counting on that money she took.”
According to the investigation, when doing business as JP & Associates Investment Firm, Steele represented herself as someone who purchased properties for investment, fixed them up and “flipped” them for a profit. In portraying even basic facts about herself to investors, Steele often made misrepresentations. Steele claimed she was a licensed CPA when she never graduated from college, that she was a widow whose husband died in the army but she was actually divorced, and that she previously worked for the IRS.
Steele told investors that she would use their funds to purchase real estate in their names that could be held and then later resold at a profit. However, Steele never purchased a property, but spent the money on other purchases including renovation of her office space, payroll for a company owned by her boyfriend and payment to past investments.
“Ms. Steele manipulated investors to line her own pocket,” said Jeannine Hammett, supervisory special agent for the IRS. “A fraud of this magnitude requires a coordinated effort among law enforcement agencies to stop those involved from profiting from their wrongdoing.”
