Man Admits to Duping Burlington County Man Out of $100K in Fake Gold Scheme

A Georgia man has pleaded guilty to stealing $100,000 from an investor in Burlington County by promising him a $1 million return on a fictitious investment in a gold importing business, Acting Attorney General Robert Lougy said on Monday.

Maurice “JR” Johnson, 62, whose last known address is Lithonia, Georgia, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree theft by deception. He faces three years in state prison.

He will also be required to pay full restitution to the victim, who is a resident of Edgewater Park, Johnson remains lodged in the Burlington County Jail pending sentencing, scheduled for July 22.

Johnson admitted that he promised the victim a huge profit through a short-term investment with Johnson’s purported gold importing business, Landview Gold, LLC.

Johnson told the victim he was importing gold from the West African nation of Ghana, and that if the victim made an initial investment of $100,000, he would receive a return of $1 million in just 15 days.

Johnson showed the victim several documents that purported to be from customs officials in Ghana, as well as a fraudulent invoice that appeared to document a sale of gold by Landview Gold to a legitimate company that trades in gold.

Investigators contacted the legitimate company, which confirmed that the invoice was a forgery.

The victim wired $100,000 to Johnson on Aug. 8, 2013, but never received a return on his investment.

Within a few months, the victim realized he had been defrauded. However, when he called Johnson repeatedly to complain, Johnson claimed that there were delays related to Ghana customs authorities, travel, and arranging the “closing.”

Johnson ultimately admitted that he never invested the victim’s money and instead used it for personal expenses.

Johnson was arrested by Georgia authorities in April 2015 for stealing $20,000 from a resident of that state through the fraudulent gold importing scheme involving Landview Gold. He pleaded guilty to a theft charge there and was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation.