An East Greenwich, R.I. woman whose business specialized in preserving the current condition of foreclosed homes for resale has been charged in U.S. District Court in Providence. The defendant allegedly operated a scheme whereby she raised and pocketed millions of dollars from investors, often times family members, friends, and business associates, by misrepresenting to them that she needed to raise tens of thousands of dollars for various repair projects. In return for their investment, investors were promised a return of fifty percent of the profit.
According to Court documents, it is alleged that Monique N. Brady, 44, misrepresented projects and solicited multiple bids for significantly more money than an individual project required. Brady performed relatively menial tasks such as grass mowing, snow removal, boiler service, etc., for as little as $20, but represented the bids to investors as full-fledged rehabilitation projects costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. An investigation determined that Brady often solicited multiple bids, primarily by email, for many of the projects.
It is alleged that Brady, owner and operator of MNB LLC, often convinced investors to invest substantial amounts of money claiming she had been awarded Freddie Mac rehabilitation projects, when in fact the projects were associated with real estate entities other than Freddie Mac. The evidence suggests Brady used the Freddie Mac name to provide more credibility to her fraudulent solicitations.
A review of bank and other financial records revealed that Brady allegedly received approximately $10,076,291 in investments from thirty-two individuals based on numerous false and fraudulent representations. Many of these investors had close and personal relationships with Brady, including close friends, her step-brother and the former nanny for her children. Numerous investors suffered substantial harm as a result Brady’s fraudulent conduct, including an elderly woman who lost nearly all of her life savings and another elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease who lost his life savings to Brady.
As part of the scheme, Brady often paid back some of the money she received from one investor with monies received from another. By the time the scheme ended after its discovery in the summer of 2018, twenty-three individuals had lost approximately $4,495,237 to Brady.
Monique Brady appeared today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond on a Criminal Complaint charging her with wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Aaron L. Weisman, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Department’s Tax Division, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Kristina O’Connell, and Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division Joseph R. Bonavolonta.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker and Tax Division Trial Attorney Christopher P. O’Donnell.
A Criminal Complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.