Homayoon Daneshvar, 63, Washington, D.C., was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The charges related to a $1.9 million real estate investment fraud scheme.
Danshevar was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, forfeit $1.945 million, and pay $926,020 in restitution.
Daneshvar pleaded guilty on October 24, 2016.
According to court documents, Daneshvar engaged in a real estate investment fraud scheme from in or about April 2009 to January 2013. Deneshvar lied and made false promises to eight victim investors to persuade them to give him approximately $1.9 million. Daneshvar told the victim investors the money would be used for bridge financing to purchase foreclosed property that would be “flipped,” or quickly resold for profit. Daneshvar promised the investors a monthly return on their investments. In reality Daneshvar used the money to invest in the stock market, pay “returns” on the investments back to the investors, and to pay for his own personal expenses.
The victims of the real estate investment fraud included a 78-year old retiree who invested her retirement savings. Another victim was a permanently disabled Marin Corps veteran who borrowed against his home, according to court documents. When the victims became suspicious, Daneshvar them that their money was tied up in properties and that their investments had grown. Eventually, he confessed that he had been lying to the investors and running a Ponzi scheme.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton. Assistant U.S. Attorney Grace L. Hill prosecuted the case.
