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Two charged in alleged scheme to defraud real estate investors

A Richmond woman and a Miami man have been charged with defrauding investors of $132 million in a scheme in which they allegedly misappropriated money they were supposed to be holding for the owners of investment property.

Lara Coleman and Edward Okun face multiple counts of wire and mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, among other charges.

An indictment filed in U.S. District Court alleges that Coleman and Okun used an intermediary company called 1031TG to collect money from clients who put their money in the company to defer capital-gains taxes on property sales.

Instead, the pair allegedly used the money for Okun’s “lavish lifestyle,” to invest in commercial real estate and to purchase additional qualified intermediary companies to obtain access to additional client funds.

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