A New Jersey man got a one-way ticket to the clink after swindling a friend out of a whopping $1.5 million in a bogus real estate development deal. Edwin Tavarez, 48, of Garfield, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars and slapped with two years of supervised release for running an elaborate wire fraud scheme that left his mate high and dry. The attorney's office announced Monday.
The duplicitous deal began back in March 2015 and ran until February 2020. During this time, Tavarez convinced his long-time friend to pour cash into what was supposed to be an industrial property venture in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. Instead of laying down foundation stones, Tavarez was busy lining his own pockets, funneling the money to support his Bronx restaurant, splurging on personal expenses, and gambling it away in casinos. According to a statement from the Justice Department, the conniving scheme unravelled after Tavarez continually served up bogus updates and excuses on the non-existent property project to his pal.
Tavarez's house of cards came tumbling down earlier this year when he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on May 31, as mentioned in his plea. U.S. District Judge Leo T. Sorokin dealt the New Jersey native's fate, also ordering Tavarez to forfeit the stolen $1,515,836. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kristen A. Kearney and Leslie A. Wright of the Securities, Financial, and Cyber Fraud Unit, with Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy commending the FBI's work in bringing the man to justice.
"Edwin Tavarez betrayed the trust of a friend of many years and used his unwitting victim's investment for personal gain and a life of leisure," Levy remarked on the case. In the five-year span of his deceit, Tavarez masked his thievery with messages filled with phony progress reports, pointing fingers at the permitting process for causing delays. He was brought to heel after a thorough investigation by Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Office.
