Alexandria Man's Ponzi Scheme Defrauds 20 Victims

An Alexandria man pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft Tuesday for a Ponzi scheme that got him over $1.4 million from more than 20 victims. Federal prosecutors say Brian Thomas Sapp, 38, targeted close friends and their families as victims.

Sapp conducted the scheme through his company Novus Properties, which claimed to buy and resell distressed lender-owned properties in DC, Virginia and Maryland. Sapp would get capital from investors to buy the homes and said he would resell them to make a profit. He promised returns of up to 25 percent to investors.

Sapp falsely told investors he had a guaranteed buyer for the properties. Prosecutors say he stole the identity of an Alexandria construction company president to act as the guaranteed buyer. He used a cloud-based platform to create false contacts between the construction company and his business. The digital signatures for Sapp and the construction company company originated from the same IP address. Investors would receive the falsified contracts and HUD-1 Settlement Statement summaries, making it appear like Sapp bought the properties and had a contract to sell them.

In all, he made hundreds of false real estate transactions to dupe the victims. Instead, Sapp used the money to buy a Mercedes, take golf vacations and to make lulling payments to investors.

Sapp at least two years in prison for the identity theft charge, and up to 20 years for the wire fraud charge. He will be sentenced on March 15, 2019.

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