Top Baltimore prosecutor is indicted for allegedly lying to get money for Florida home purchases
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby speaks during a news conference in December 2019 in Baltimore. A federal grand jury indicted Mosby on Thursday on charges of perjury and making false mortgage applications in the purchase of two Florida vacation homes. Photo by Julio Cortez/The Associated Press.
Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was indicted Thursday for allegedly committing perjury and filing false mortgage applications to buy two homes in Florida.
The indictment accuses Mosby of making false statements to withdraw money from Baltimore’s deferred compensation plan and to obtain mortgages, according to a Department of Justice press release. Mosby allegedly sought a $490,500 mortgage to buy a home in Kissimmee, Florida, and a $428,400 mortgage to buy a condo in Long Boat Key, Florida.
Mosby was previously in the spotlight when she charged six Baltimore police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, who died in 2015 after suffering a spinal injury in police custody. She was unable to obtain any convictions in the case, the Baltimore Sun previously reported.
The indictment against Mosby alleges that she:
• Falsely certified in 2020 that she was entitled to withdraw money from Baltimore’s deferred compensation plan because of coronavirus financial hardships. She sought withdrawals of $40,000 and $50,000. In reality, Mosby continued to receive her full pay of nearly $248,000, prosecutors say.
• Made false statements on mortgage applications in 2021 by failing to disclose that she had unpaid federal taxes. The Internal Revenue Service had placed a $45,000 lien against property belonging to Mosby and her husband.
• Signed a “second home rider” in 2020 asserting that she was using the Kissimmee property as a second home, and she was not giving a management company control over the property. The month before, however, she had signed an agreement with a vacation home management company, prosecutors say. The rider entitled Mosby to a lower interest rate.
If convicted, Mosby faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of two counts of perjury and a maximum of 30 years in prison for each of two counts of making false mortgage applications.
Mosby’s attorney, A. Scott Bolden, told the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post that they will “fight these charges vigorously.”
“I remain confident that once all the evidence is presented, that she will prevail against these bogus charges—charges that are rooted in personal, political and racial animus five months from her election,” he told the newspaper.
Bolden told the New York Times that Mosby didn’t disclose the tax lien because she didn’t know about it. He said Mosby’s husband, Nick Mosby, president of the Baltimore City Council, handled their taxes. Nick Mosby is not facing any criminal charges.
He also said Mosby had financial hardship because of a travel startup that she owned.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: How Black female prosecutors are changing the status quo and fighting for reform”
