ABINGDON, Va. – A husband-and-wife team of Wise has been convicted today of federal wire fraud related to their plan to create fake home sales contracts to obtain presale commissions they were not entitled to.
Jessee Allen DeLoach, 40, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in February 2022. He was sentenced today to 15 months in federal prison. Natasha Ashley Miller DeLoach, 38, also pleaded guilty to telephony fraud in February 2022 and was sentenced today to 15 months in federal prison. In addition to their jail time, the DeLoaches agreed to pay $146,273 in restitution.
According to court documents, the DeLoaches owned a real estate agency called Koltown Properties, Inc., which operated in Southwest Virginia. Between March 2016 and November 2019, the defendants drafted at least 19 fake home sales contracts and submitted them to multiple prepayment boards across the country to fraudulently obtain money.
Advance Commission firms provide a financial service to real estate agents by helping them with cash flow. Specifically, real estate agents can sell portions of their outstanding commissions on legitimate home sales contracts in exchange for access to cash before the closing date.
As part of the settlement, the DeLoaches either created completely false sales contracts for properties that they knew were not under contract, or listed buyers and sellers that did not exist. In addition, the DeLoaches amended valid residential sales contracts to indicate that no other real estate agent was involved in doubling their claimed sales commissions. To further their plans, the DeLoaches created fake title companies, including one called Excel Title Company, to validate the fraudulent contracts to the prepayment commissions so that they would in turn authorize commission payments to the DeLoaches. The DeLoaches received more than $300,000 in presale commissions over the life of their plans.
United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh and FBI Special Commander Stanley M. Meador made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia State Police are investigating the case, with assistance from the Wise County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.
US Assistant Attorney Lena L. Busscher is pursuing the case.
