BOSTON – April 8, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — A Weston real estate developer and entrepreneur who was apprehended in Cyprus nearly eight months after he was indicted on federal criminal charges was convicted yesterday of wire fraud in connection with his defrauding several individuals in 2008.
After a jury trial, Paul John McMann, 54, was convicted of three counts of wire fraud. United States District Judge Rya W. Zobel scheduled sentencing for June 27, 2013.
In October and November 2008, McMann purchased various fraudulent bank documents, including “Proof of Funds” letters on Bank of America and Wachovia Bank letterhead purporting to show that McMann and his company, Commonwealth Albanian Hydro Ventures Inc. (CAHV), held accounts in those banks containing large sums of money. McMann used these and other fraudulent documents, including a phony letter of credit purporting to come from Wachovia Bank, as part of fraudulent scheme to obtain money and other consideration from various individuals in the Boston area and elsewhere. Specifically, McMann utilized the fraudulent documents to secure at least $450,000 in loans, as well as to convince a creditor to whom McMann owed over $1.6 million, to hold off on foreclosing on various properties McMann had developed.
The indictment was returned on November 10, 2010, but McMann, after being informed by the United States Secret Service of the pending charges against him, remained at-large, outside the United States, until he was detained on July 10, 2011, in Cyprus. He has been held pending trial.
The statutory maximum penalty is up to 20 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of loss inflicted by his fraud, whichever is greater, on each count of wire fraud.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Steven Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Boston Field Division; and United States Marshal John Gibbons made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vassili Thomadakis and Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.
Individuals who believe that they may have been a victim of McMann should contact the United States Attorney’s Office at USAMA.VictimAssistance (at) usdoj (dot) gov.
Contact:
District of Massachusetts
(617) 748-3100
