For Long-Running Multi-Million-Dollar Investment Fraud Scheme
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of New York
Defendant Sold Interests in Real Estate that He Did Not Own
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that DEREK JONES, a disbarred California attorney, was sentenced today to five and a half years in prison. JONES ran fraudulent investment funds, including real-estate investment firms and a venture-capital firm, through which he defrauded investors of over $8.6 million over a period of more than seven years, from at least 2012 through 2019. JONES previously pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced today before United States District Judge Loretta A. Preska.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “When investors purchase shares in real-estate funds and other investment funds, those investors have every right to expect that the people promoting and selling those investments are treating them honestly and telling them the truth about their investments. Today, Derek Jones, a disbarred attorney, was held accountable for violating this right over an extended period of time, selling interests in real estate that he falsely claimed to own and defrauding his investors out of millions of dollars.”
Link to full report here.
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