The former president of a company involved in a failed real estate project that cost investors more than $100 million pleaded guilty today to one count of conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Charlotte.Neil O’Rourke, 40, of Apex, held various positions at companies involved in the mountain development known as the Village of Penland, located about an hour northeast of Asheville. He became president of Peerless Real Estate Services in in 2004.
O’Rourke pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge that included making a false application and statements in relation to loans, mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and securities fraud. O’Rourke appeared today in Charlotte to formally enter a guilty plea.
No date was set for sentencing. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
The details were announced jointly by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service.
According to the statement, O’Rourke participated in a conspiracy of investment and mortgage fraud: “The investment fraud scheme was carried out in a Ponzi scheme fashion, where new investor funds in the Village of Penland were diverted to make mortgage payments for other investors.”
Other lawsuits that followed the development’s collapse charged that money was also used by officials of Peerless to take expensive vacations and fund other real estate investment projects
Read More:News & Observer
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