United States v. Bradley A. Holcom

Closed Criminal Division Cases

United States v. Bradley A. Holcom
Court Docket Number: 3:13-cr-01723-CAB

This case is assigned to Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo, United States District Court for the Southern District of California, 221 West Broadway, San Diego, CA 92101.

On November 10, 2014, Bradley A. Holcom, a commercial and residential real estate developer, was sentenced to 121 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release and was ordered to pay full restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date. Holcom pleaded guilty in May 2014 to one count of wire fraud charged in a May 2013 indictment stemming from his orchestration of a $50 million real estate investment fraud scheme. On May 16, 2013 the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California unsealed an indictment charging Bradley A. Holcom, a commercial real estate developer, with eight counts of mail fraud (Counts 1-8: 18 U.S.C. § 1341), four counts of wire fraud (Count 9-12: 18 U.S.C. § 1343) and one count of securities fraud (Count 13: 15 U.S.C. §§ 78J(b) and 78ff(a); Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 240.10b-5). On May 8, 2014 Holcom pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

According to court documents, Holcom solicited investors to provide funds for commercial and residential development through an investment program he operated called the Trust Deed Investment Program. Holcom falsely told investors who purchased notes through the Trust Deed Investment Program that they would receive a lien on a specific piece of property he was developing and that the lien would enable them to take priority over any other potential liens or interests in the property.

However, Holcom admitted that he never provided investors with a lien in the property he was purportedly developing and instead conveyed to investors a lesser interest that did not allow them to foreclose on the property to protect their investment. In addition, while he promised investors that their purported lien would be in first position, he subsequently solicited investments for properties that he knew were already encumbered by first position liens. Holcom also sold properties that were supposedly serving as security for investors without informing investors that the property they had financed for development was sold. In 2008 and 2009, he continued to solicit investors for new funds by making misrepresentations about his true financial condition and the manner in which he was using investor money.

This case was brought in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, please visit www.StopFraud.gov.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Phoenix Division – Yuma Resident Agency. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Henry P. Van Dyck and Deputy Chief Daniel Braun of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Clark of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California. The department recognizes the substantial assistance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The written information on this website will be updated as new developments arise in the case. If you have any questions, please call the Victim-Witness Unit toll-free at (888) 549-3945 or email her at victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov

Indictment