The alleged mastermind in a $10 million mortgage scam – in which convicts and jobless people were recruited from halfway houses as straw property buyers – has been charged in a new, $1 million investment scheme, authorities said.
In this latest plot, Sharmon Wade, 35, of Queens, allegedly tricked unsophisticated investors into believing that he would double their money in one to two months by buying commercial real estate below market value, then flipping it. Wade and accused cohort Claudius Hannah, 45, of Spring Valley, allegedly never bought property but used the money on vacations, nights out and clothes.
Wade has been stewing in a federal prison since mid-February, when he was busted on his first alleged scam – getting ex-cons to pose as buyers so he and three other co-defendants could pocket $10 million in sub-prime loans.