Wells Real Estate Fraud: Two Sentenced, SEC Sues Third

A married couple who led a $56 million real estate scheme was sentenced to prison, as a new civil lawsuit accuses a third person for his role in the massive fraud that duped investors, many of them losing their retirement funds, according to court records.

Janalie Camille Bingham, who also goes by Janalie Camille Joseph, and her husband, Jean Joseph, were sentenced this month after pleading guilty this year to charges tied to the scheme they allegedly ran through Bingham’s West Palm Beach-based firm Wells Real Estate Investment.

They were accused of inducing people to invest in properties, marketing the opportunity with high interest returns and overinflating the value of Wells’ portfolio, according to court records. While a small portion of the funds went into real estate, much of it was diverted to equities trading, and repaying existing investors with new investors’ money in a Ponzi-like fashion, prosecutors said in court filings.

On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil suit against a third person they say was involved, Francisco J. Herrera of San Jose, California, alleging he “played a significant role in raising investor money for Wells,” according to the complaint. Herrera is accused of soliciting investments, including through his radio program that provides financial advice, and obtaining $10 million from about 190 investors for Wells.

He earned at least $488,244 in commissions from the sale of promissory notes to investors, according to the SEC’s complaint. In previous filings against Bingham and Joseph, authorities had said that Bingham and Joseph had told investors no commissions will be paid.

Herrera, who has licenses for life insurance and mortgage loan origination and leads Confia Financial Corporation, sold the notes without being a registered broker-dealer or being affiliated with a registered broker-dealer, according to the civil suit.

South Florida federal Judge Jose E. Martinez on Tuesday sentenced Bingham to 4 years in prison, and earlier this month sentenced Joseph to 20 years, allotting him credit for time served since Nov. 7. Joseph, who has one previous criminal conviction from an unrelated 2019 case, on Thursday filed an appeal of his sentencing.

Bingham pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and the remaining 10 counts of wire fraud against her were dismissed, court records show. Joseph pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The sentences and new lawsuit mark the latest fallout from the ploy that prosecutors said touched about 660 investors nationwide, many of whom experienced “catastrophic losses,” the SEC’s civil complaint says.

Bingham and Joseph orchestrated the scheme from January 2020 to April 2024, promising investors their money was secured by Wells’ valuable real estate and at one point misrepresenting its value at about $450 million, according to statements of evidence signed by Joseph and Bingham.

The pair concealed Joseph’s 2019 criminal conviction, with Bingham being the sole signatory to a Wells Real Estate Investment bank account, though Joseph directed her to make transactions, according to Joseph’s statement. In his previous criminal case, Joseph pleaded guilty to wire fraud for misappropriating $3 million while operating the company Evergreen United Investments, and was ordered to pay that amount as restitution and serve 15 months in prison, followed by supervised release.

In total, about $28 million was diverted for speculative equities trading, and about $8 million was disbursed in Ponzi-like payments to existing investors, according to the statements signed by Joseph and Bingham. Prosecutors also alleged about $12 million was lost in the equities trading, though Joseph didn’t admit to that.

The SEC’s new suit also alleges that the pair hid that much of the portfolio was leveraged by mortgage loans, and that they also transferred investors’ money for personal use by Bingham and Joseph.

Herrera, who had visited Wells’ West Palm office several times and met with Bingham to learn more about the firm’s business, “provided and discussed Wells’ promotional and sales materials with investors,” according to the complaint. He or his sales agents sold Wells notes from March 2021 to November 2022.

Primarily, he sold notes through his Spanish radio show called “Duplica Tu Dinero,” or “Double Your Money,” as well as through social media, including Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, according to the complaint.

An attorney for Bingham and Joseph declined to comment. Requests for comment made to Confia Financial weren’t returned.