Federal grand jury charges two in scheme to steal D.C. area properties from estates of deceased persons and others

Washington, D.C. - A federal grand jury in the District of Columbia has charged two local men in connection with a scheme to steal local properties from estates of deceased persons and others, announced U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor, Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, Charles R. Pine, Special Agent in Charge of the Alexandria Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, and Thomas Hampton, Commissioner of the District of Columbia's Department Insurance, Securities, and Banking.

The 13-count indictment, which was unsealed today, charges Duane McKinney, 35, most recently of 1000 block of 10th Street, NE, Washington, D.C., and Joe D. Liles, 55, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, with conspiracy to commit forged securities, and charges McKinney alone with mail fraud, wire fraud, laundering monetary instruments, first degree theft, and criminal forfeiture. McKinney was arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton.

According to the indictment, McKinney and Liles obtained title to D.C. and Maryland properties through forged deeds, that is, deeds which purported to be signed by the owners transferring the properties to McKinney or his non-profit business. In fact, the deeds were not signed by the owners; the vast majority of the owners were deceased at the time of the forged and false deeds. Liles would sign his name to these false deeds as the "notary," falsely stating that he saw the owner sign the deeds as grantor and that the owner "personally appeared before [him]." Once the deeds were notarized, the defendants caused the forged and notarized deeds to be filed with the District of Columbia's Recorder of Deeds and the Prince George's Circuit Court Land Records. Then, McKinney would sell the properties as if they belonged to him or his non-profit business and would use the money for his own personal desires and to carry on the conspiracy. The indictment alleges that through this scheme, McKinney wrongfully obtained approximately 15 properties, some of which he sold in order to gain for himself in excess of $770,000.

If convicted of all counts at trial, McKinney would face a likely sentence of 87 - 108 months in prison under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines; Liles could be sentenced to approximately 27 - 33 months of incarceration.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.

In announcing the indictment, U.S. Attorney Taylor, Assistant Director in Charge Persichini, Special Agent in Charge Pine, and Commissioner Hampton commended Special Agents Kelly Bender, FBI, and Ronald D. Williams, IRS-CI, Fraud Investigator Annette D. Beresford, Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking. They also noted the assistance of Special Agent Deena P. Wilson, Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General. In addition, they commended Paralegal Specialist Jeanne Latimore-Brown, Legal Assistants April Peeler and Jessica McCormick, Assistant U.S. Attorneys William R. Cowden, William B. Wiegand, Diane Lucas, Judith A. Kidwell, former Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Flood, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Cheatham, who is prosecuting the case.

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