A federal grand jury has indicted a Bethesda man for using other people’s names to obtain approximately $3.8 million in home mortgage loans that he used to purchase nearly three dozen row houses in Baltimore.
The row houses are all either in foreclosure or default on the loans, according to The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.
Alberic Okou Agodio, 30, of Bethesda, was indicted Feb. 18 on 16 counts related to the real estate scheme. The alleged fraud occurred from June 2009 to November 2010, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Federal prosecutors said Agodio, the founder of A&O Consulting and AORE Investments, persuaded about three dozen immigrants and students who lived in Maryland to allow him to use their names to obtain mortgage loans, which he then used to buy the properties. He told the individuals who allowed him to use their names that he would find people to lease the properties and manage them in order to collect rent and pay the mortgages. He also provided $7,000 to $8,000 to each individual after homes were purchased and doled out commissions to individuals who helped him recruit others into the scheme, according to prosecutors.
Other allegations included in the indictment against Agodio outline the extent of the scheme:
- Agodio falsely reported the earnings and assets of individuals on the loan applications.
- The owner of the row houses, identified in the indictment as a co-conspirator, reportedly paid kickbacks to Agodio from the proceeds he received from the sale of the homes.
- When a fire destroyed one of the row houses, Agodio falsely identified himself as the owner to collect $106,500 in insurance funds.
Agodio faces up to 30 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison on two counts of aggravated identity theft, as well as additional time related to money laundering charges.
A website that remains active for AORE Investments identifies Agodio as an accountant who graduated from Delaware State University and then worked for a national accounting firm before starting his own company in 2006.
Agodio was quoted in a 2011 Baltimore Sun article about homes selling for less than $10,000 in Baltimore. He told the paper he was rehabbing similarly inexpensive homes to be resold at prices around $80,000.
“It’s a better deal for everybody,” Agodio told the newspaper.
