What does it take to owe $128 million dollars to the federal government on an income tax return? To answer this question let’s meet Sirewl Cox, federal prisoner #94174-038, currently residing at Fort Dix FCI.
According to the Department of Justice and the IRS, it takes a whole lot of fraud:
Developer Sentenced for Orchestrating Massive Mortgage Fraud Scheme
On December 19, 2013, in Boston, Mass., Sirewl R. Cox was sentenced to 150 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On November 15, 2013, Cox was convicted of wire fraud, bank fraud and conducting an unlawful monetary transaction.
According to court documents, in 2006 and 2007, Cox identified multiple-family buildings for sale and recruited straw buyers to purchase the buildings. Cox and others then recruited straw buyers to purchase individual units in buildings that Cox controlled. The straw buyers’ financing for the purchases was obtained by submitting mortgage loan applications and other documents that falsely represented key information. Deals were closed with HUD-1 settlement statements that falsely represented that straw buyers had made down payments and paid other funds in connection with the property transactions, and falsely represented how the proceeds of the mortgage loans were disbursed.
Mr. Cox may have stashed away some of his alleged ill-gotten gains towards website hosting; his real estate site still confidently proclaims that, as President of City Real Estate & Business Brokers, Inc., his goal is, “[t]o be honest, ethical, and mindful at all times.”
From Suffolk County, Mass. Registry of Deeds:
