Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez
announces that Gary Kinard (40, St. Petersburg), Martin Steele (46, Largo), and
Mark Boring (47, St. Petersburg) have each pleaded guilty to one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud
conspiracy and a minimum mandatory consecutive term of 2 years’ imprisonment
for the aggravated identity theft.
Pursuant to their plea agreements, Kinard has agreed to pay
restitution to the scheme’s numerous victims in the amount of $1,555,860.21;
Steele has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $1,768,163.60; and Boring
has agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $853,392.03. Each has also
consented to a forfeiture money judgment of $75,000.
According to the plea agreements, from 2016 through at least
2018, Kinard, Steele, and Boring conspired with each other and others to take
money from victims throughout the United States who wanted to sell their
timeshare properties or other land parcels. The conspirators placed telephone
calls to these victims impersonating real estate professionals. They misled the
timeshare owners to believe that the conspirators had identified buyers for the
victims’ timeshares and other properties. The conspirators further advised the
victims that the timeshare and property sales could be consummated if the
victims made one or more advanced payments to the conspirators for various fees
purportedly associated with the sales, such as closing costs, courier services,
title searches, transfer and legal fees. Once the victims agreed to pay the
bogus advance fees, the conspirators directed the victims to send funds via
wire transfers to one of the conspirators. That conspirator then withdrew the
fraud proceeds and shared them with the others, based upon each conspirator’s
role in the fraudulent transaction. The conspirators often repeatedly
re-contacted their victims and fraudulently advised them that additional fees
were needed in order to complete the sales, and they continued to dupe the
victims into sending bogus advance fees until the victims either ran out of
money or became aware of the scam.
After the victims had depleted their assets or recognized
that they had been defrauded, Kinard, Steele, and other conspirators evolved
their scheme. In this second stage, Kinard, Steele, and/or other conspirators
re-contacted their victims via email and, now posing as helpful attorneys, told
the victims that they had been defrauded in a timeshare scam. They then offered
to “represent” the victims against their “first attorneys,” and to obtain
settlements on their behalf. Once Kinard, Steele, and/or other conspirators
regained the trust of the timeshare victims, they directed the victims to
forward additional bogus fees purportedly associated with the cost of litigation,
settlement expenses, and other related expenses. Some victims paid the
conspirators hundreds of thousands of dollars for the purported “litigation.”
Over the course of the conspiracy, the conspirators received in excess of $1.5
million via wire transfers from more than 40 victims.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, the St. Petersburg Police Department, and the Florida Department
of Law Enforcement. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney
Rachel K. Jones.
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