NEW YORK — A former New York City Police Department Sergeant was sentenced Friday to four years and 10 months in federal prison for conning real estate investors by claiming to be constructing in the Dominican Republic but instead stealing the money.
James Monahan, the owner of a real estate investment company called Panam Management Group, Inc., plead guilty in May 2013 to one count each of wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for operating a fraudulent real estate scheme.
Monahan, 44, of New York City, stole $4.7 million from investors. The construction project was never developed.
The judge ordered Monahan to forfeit the $4.7 million.
According to the court evidence, here are the facts:
- Beginning in early 2008, Monahan, a former sergeant in the New York City Police Department, negotiated with another real estate investment company to solicit investors for a project he claimed to be constructing in the Dominican Republic.
- During the negotiations, Monahan repeatedly touted his prior service with the NYPD as proof of his trustworthiness and as a reason to invest in the project.
- In connection with the project, Monahan and a co-conspirator, Edward Adams, who was a New York-based attorney, executed agreements that required investor funds to be deposited into escrow accounts that were to be managed by Adams.
- The agreements required that the majority of the funds be deposited in an account to which the defendants would not have access.
- From October 2008 through February 2009, approximately $4.7 million in investor funds was deposited into the escrow accounts.
- Shortly after the deposits were made, the funds were improperly withdrawn from the account by Adams without disclosure to investors.
- In an effort to hide the fact that the funds had been removed from the escrow account, in May 2009, Monahan mailed a forged letter on the stationary of a major bank to investors claiming that their money was safely deposited with that bank.
- In fact, by June 2009, all of the investor funds had been taken from the escrow accounts.
- At that point, almost no work had been performed on the purported project in the Dominican Republic and no money was returned to investors.
The James Monahan and Edward Adams Indictment