WASHINGTON – A Maryland man has been charged in a 10-count indictment with carrying out a scheme to steal a residence located in the District of Columbia and then reselling the property to an unsuspecting buyer.
Franklin A. Olaitan, 48, of Beltsville, was arraigned today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The indictment against him was also unsealed today. He was released following his initial court appearance, pending further court proceedings.
The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office Criminal Division.
As alleged in the indictment, Olaitan perpetrated a scheme in which he obtained a residential real property located in the 2000 block of First Street NW by submitting false documents to lenders, a settlement company, and the District of Columbia Recorder of Deeds. It is alleged that Olaitan quickly resold the residential property to an unsuspecting buyer and received the seller’s proceeds from both purported sales of the property. In the real estate closings, first, a lender paid approximately $420,000 and, second, a purchaser paid about $550,000.
Olaitan is charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property, two counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of identity theft, and one count of first-degree fraud. The indictment includes a notification of the United States’ intent to seek the forfeiture of any proceeds Olaitan received as a result of the fraud scheme, identity theft, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Lucas of the Fraud Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Daniel Haines and Mariela Andrade.
Making sure that victims of crimes are treated with compassion, fairness and respect.
The United States Attorney’s Office In Your Neighborhood
Our nation-wide commitment to reducing gun crime in America.