2 Sentenced In Financial Fraud Scheme That Stole $1M From Investors

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Two former financial services specialists from Virginia were sentenced in federal court recently of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud affecting financial institutions, according to court documents.

Roberta Leigh Dawson, aka Bird, 63, formerly of Alexandria and a current resident of Norlina, North Carolina, was sentenced Friday to two years and six months in prison, according to court records. She had pleaded guilty to the mail and wire fraud charge on Sept. 24, 2025.

Edward Fitzgerald, 59, of Fairfax, was a purported financial advisor who specialized in real estate transactions and investments, according to court documents. His clients provided him with access to their financial information and means of identification. This information was passed on to Dawson, who was a licensed loan officer with a local mortgage brokerage. She used that information to obtain fraudulent real estate loans, court records say.

"In some instances, Fitzgerald and Dawson sold their victims’ homes without their knowledge, including to straw buyers," according to court documents. "They would then strip out the equity and use it to pay their own expenses, among other things. They also used their victims’ personal information without their knowledge to obtain loans in their names and submitted to financial institutions loan applications that were replete with misstatements."

Dawson diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from clients' accounts and routinely paid Fitzgerald's credit card, according to court records. He used this card to pay for exstravagent travel, luxury items and daily expenses, with more than $1 million obtained via the fraud scheme.

Fitzgerald, who pleaded guilty on Sept. 16, 2025, was sentenced on Jan. 20 to five years in prison, court records say.