A Texas man pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and money laundering tied to a $1.5 million multi-state property impersonation scheme
A Texas man who helped orchestrate a multi-state property impersonation scheme entered a guilty plea in federal court in Boston, exposing a deed fraud conspiracy that targeted vacant parcels across four states and left real estate professionals and buyers on the wrong end of more than $1.5 million in fraudulent transactions.
Moshe Levi, 61, of Carrollton, Texas, admitted to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy before US District Court Judge Myong J. Joun in the District of Massachusetts.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 11, 2027. Levi was first charged in July alongside co-defendants Kyon James, 44, of Middleboro, Massachusetts, and Bradley Beauge, 41, of Somerset, New Jersey, both facing money laundering conspiracy counts.
How the impersonation scheme operated
According to court filings, Levi and his alleged co-conspirators identified vacant, unencumbered properties in Massachusetts, Georgia, Indiana, and Tennessee, specifically targeting parcels owned by out-of-state individuals unlikely to detect irregular activity.
The group created fictitious email accounts, established internet telephony services, and obtained forged driver’s licenses and passports bearing the legitimate owners’ identities.
Armed with those credentials, the conspirators deceived real estate professionals into listing, negotiating, and ultimately conveying the properties to unsuspecting buyers.
Court documents indicate the group shared and attempted to share approximately $1 million in illegal proceeds since June 2023.
A parallel laundering operation ran alongside the sales. Funds moved through wire transfers, checks, and both individual and corporate bank accounts controlled by the conspirators, structured to conceal the origin, ownership, and source of the proceeds.
US Attorney Leah B. Foley of the District of Massachusetts and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s Boston Field Office, announced the plea.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Seth B. Kosto, Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit.
What the case signals for real estate professionals
The prosecution reflects a wider trend. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 Annual Report, real estate fraud complaints reached 12,368 in 2025, with reported losses totaling $275.1 million.
That's a 59% jump from approximately $174 million recorded in 2024, according to the same report.
Identity-based deed fraud schemes can bypass standard verification checks when high-quality forged documents are used, making them among the harder-to-detect variants of real estate fraud.
Mortgage Professional America has covered comparable prosecutions, including a Florida attorney who admitted guilt in a six-year real estate fraud case and a California man who received nearly eight years for a $10 million deed fraud scheme.
The FBI has also charged 11 individuals in a $17 million Los Angeles real estate and loan fraud operation, underscoring the organized scale such schemes can reach.
Levi faces up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud count, plus a fine of $250,000 — or twice the gross gain or loss from the scheme, whichever is greater.
The money laundering charge carries an identical prison maximum and a fine of up to $500,000, or twice the value of the financial transactions at issue.
Federal prosecutors have indicated they intend to recommend penalties at the low end of sentencing guidelines.
Charges against co-defendants James and Beauge remain pending.
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