Joseph Gillespie, 35, a former employee of the Baltimore City Department of Finance, has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and a longstanding bribery scheme with ramifications for both individual property owners in Baltimore and the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). Gillespie, involved in a scheme that impacted financial institutions and pocketed fraudulent loans meant to aid small businesses during the pandemic, was part of an investigation led by a U.S. Department of Justice Strike Force. This group targets multi-state pandemic relief fraud and has been dedicated to uncovering abuses of the CARES Act, intended to provide economic support in the face of COVID-19's economic upheaval, according to a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Maryland.
Gillespie admitted to using his official capacity within the city government to negate financial obligations of various property owners, in exchange for bribes between 10% to 15% of the amounts owed. The obligations in question ranged from water bills to property taxes, which, left unpaid, would lead to tax sales. By marking these as paid, Gillespie facilitated losses exceeding $1.25 million to the City while pocketing more than $250,000 himself. In his plea agreement, Gillespie confirmed his role in these fraudulent activities, which stretched from early 2016 to September 2023.
The scheme also reached into the heart of pandemic relief efforts. Gillespie, alongside co-defendant Ahmed "Adam" Sary, submitted a fraudulent PPP loan application, claiming significant payroll expenditures that never existed for his company, JAG Investments. As a result of this duplicitous effort, Gillespie received around $138,000, from which he planned to give Sary kickbacks for the ill-gotten gains. Once the funds were secured, Gillespie even went as far as to set up payroll services for JAG to cobble together paperwork to suggest the PPP loan could be forgiven.
The sentencing for Gillespie has been set for December 9 with an agreement in place that could see him serving between two and five years in prison, if the court accepts the plea agreement. The tireless work of the FBI, along with the collaboration of the Small Business Administration’s Office of Inspector General, the Baltimore County Police Department, and the Baltimore City Inspector General, was pivotal in exposing these fraudulent practices. U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron has commended their efforts, with a note of thanks to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul A. Riley and Evelyn L. Cusson for their prosecutorial support in this case.
