A Rhode Island woman who operated a property preservation and field services business allegedly used that business to defraud dozens of individuals out of millions of dollars by operating what amounted to a Ponzi scheme.
According to the Department of Justice, Monique Brady owned and operated a property preservation company called MNB. Brady allegedly used the company to operate a scheme wherein she raised millions of dollars from investors, which included family members, friends, and business associates, by misrepresenting that she needed to raise tens of thousands of dollars for various repair projects.
In order to convince the investors to hand over their money, Brady allegedly promised them a return of 50% of the profits from the projects.
According to court documents, Brady often convinced investors that she had contracts with Freddie Mac to rehabilitate REO houses, but the projects did not involve Freddie Mac at all. Brady allegedly used Freddie Mac’s name to lend more believability to her investment solicitations.
Brady allegedly misrepresented numerous projects and solicited multiple bids for “significantly more money” than an individual project required,” the DOJ said.
Additionally, Brady allegedly performed “relatively menial tasks such as grass mowing, snow removal, boiler service, etc., for as little as $20,” but told her investors that the projects were full-fledged rehabilitations that cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
According to the DOJ, a review of Brady’s bank records found that Brady allegedly received approximately $10,076,291 in investments from 32 different people based on numerous false and fraudulent representations.
Many of the investors had personal relationships with Brady, including close friends, her stepbrother, and the former nanny for her children.
The complaint against Brady alleges that numerous investors suffered “substantial harm” as a result Brady’s conduct, including an elderly woman who lost almost nearly all her life savings and another elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease who lost his life savings to Brady.
As part of the scheme, Brady allegedly often paid back investors with money that came from another investor, a hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.
By the time the scheme was discovered in the summer of 2018, nearly two dozen individuals had allegedly lost approximately $4,495,237 to Brady.
Brady stands accused of wire fraud.
