Ex NY cop faces 20 years on US$4.7M Dom. Rep. real estate scam

NEW YORK.- The former owner of a real estate investment company via which he scammed hundreds of people out of US$4.7 million with a fake housing project in the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty in South District Federal Court Tuesday and will be sentenced July 8.

James Monahan, a former police officer was charged with wire and mail fraud and conspiracy, after he bilked investors who were sold a "dream" house and apartments in one of Dominican Republic’s most idyllic sites.

While making millions from the bogus project, the former sergeant was living a life of a "big shot” in New York and Europe at of victims’ expense, says the indictment.

Investors lost all the money given to Monahan in early 2008, when he negotiated with another real estate company and convinced the owners of his honesty citing his career in the NYPD, while coconspirator Edward Adams, a former New York lawyer, notarized Monahan’s scams.

When some of the duped investors traveled to Dominican Republic to see the project, they found that nothing had been done.

The former crooked cop will be sentenced on July 8 and faces up to 20 years in prison and a US$250,000 fine.