United States v. Olusoji Michael Agboola

417 F.3d 860, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 16422, 2005 WL 1862202
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedAugust 8, 2005
Docket04-1038, 04-2223
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 417 F.3d 860 (United States v. Olusoji Michael Agboola) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Olusoji Michael Agboola, 417 F.3d 860, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 16422, 2005 WL 1862202 (8th Cir. 2005).

Opinion

RILEY, Circuit Judge.

Olusoji Michael Agboola (Agboola) was indicted on forty-three counts involving a real estate “flipping” scheme. Agboola eventually pled guilty to three counts, including bankruptcy fraud, perjury, and fraudulent concealment. Agboola pled nolo contendere to the remaining counts. The district court 1 sentenced Agboola to 108 months’ imprisonment and five years’ supervised release, and ordered mandatory restitution of $582,679.45. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Agboola, a Nigerian citizen, owned a mortgage brokerage company called Mortgage Advancement Corporation (MAC), and two other companies called AG Properties (AG) and AGM Investment Corporation (AGM). MAC provided mortgage brokering and other real estate services. From 1997 to 2001, Agboola and his brother-in-law, Michael Aihe (Aihe), were involved in a property “flipping” scheme where certain property values were inflated through fraudulent appraisals provided by Aihe’s company, Lakeland Appraisals. Agboola purchased properties through AG and AGM, then resold them to MAC clients, in order to inflate the apparent value of the properties and generate fraudulently obtained proceeds. The transactions MAC brokered used false seller carry-back promissory notes, fraudulent down payments, and other false documents and devices. These practices permitted MAC, AG, and AGM to obtain loan proceeds exceeding the actual market value of the real estate.

AG and AGM would hold title to real estate for as little as one day before selling to a MAC client for substantially higher prices, based on the fraudulent appraisals. Agboola encouraged MAC employees to set up their own companies to purchase and sell real estate, as well as use “seller carry-back” loans to pay off a client’s down payment to help the client qualify for a mortgage. Agboola provided the funds for these transactions. The normal practice at MAC was to forgive the carry-back loans so clients would not have to repay them, but institutional lenders were not informed of the practice. Agboola also directed MAC employees to submit fraudulent loan documents, deposit verifications, *863 employment records, income records, and tax returns to mislead lenders into funding transactions MAC brokered.

In 1998, Agboola filed for bankruptcy. He concealed assets, income, property, and ownership in his businesses from the bankruptcy court by using an alias and a second social security number, and by attributing ownership of assets to a nonexistent brother. Agboola claimed assets of $4885 and liabilities totaling $286,948. The bankruptcy court discharged Agboola’s debts.

On January 19, 2000, Agboola was charged with bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering, and an arrest warrant issued. Agboola left Minnesota and went to Texas after the arrest warrant issued. Agboola claimed he did not know about the arrest warrant but, after leaving Minnesota, he obtained a driver’s license in Texas under the name Michael Aina. Ag-boola used the Texas license to obtain a Minnesota identification card using the name Michael Aina. Agboola then used the Minnesota identification card and an employee’s, Kola Aina’s, social security number to obtain a Florida driver’s license under the name Michael Aina. Agboola used the Florida license to open a bank account to deposit a check he obtained in Minnesota. Agboola also possessed two Minnesota driver’s licenses, one in his own name and the other in the name of Michael Olusoji Agboola.

In February 2001, Agboola returned to Minnesota. Agboola spoke to a former client, who informed Agboola that law enforcement had questioned a lot of people who purchased homes from Agboola. Ag-boola replied that he was under investigation and “was just keeping low ... staying low.”

On March 14, 2001, Aihe told federal agents in Florida he saw Agboola in February or March 2001. On March 20, federal agents surveilled a title insurance company’s office in Lake Mary, Florida. Aihe and Agboola arrived at the business. Aihe entered the business and asked for “Michael.” Agboola entered the business minutes later and stated he had an appointment. After agents confirmed Ag-boola was the person wanted under their arrest warrant, they arrested him. Upon arrest, Agboola told IRS Special Agent Kathy Klug (Agent Klug) he was tired of running and being a fugitive.

On January 15, 2002, the government filed a forty-four count superceding indictment against Agboola and Aihe. Agboola was charged in forty-three counts as follows: conspiracy to commit mail fraud (Count 1); mail fraud (Counts 2 through 3 and 12 through 21); wire fraud (Counts 4 through 7); money laundering with intent to promote aiding and abetting (Counts 8 and 9); transactions in criminally derived property (Counts 10 and 26 through 40); bankruptcy fraud (Count 11); money laundering with intent to conceal aiding and abetting (Counts 22 through 25); perjury (Count 41); using a fraudulently procured social security number (Count 42); and fraudulent concealment (Count 43).

On May 1, 2002, Agboola pled guilty to four counts in the superceding indictment. The district court later granted Agboola’s motion to withdraw the guilty plea. On January 22, 2003, Agboola pled guilty to Count 11, bankruptcy fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 152(1); Count 41, perjury in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1621; and Count 43, fraudulent concealment in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(1). Agboola pled nolo contendere to Counts 1 through 10, 12 through 40, and 42. At his change-of-plea hearing, Agboola admitted he concealed assets in his bankruptcy petition, failed to provide accurate information, failed to disclose his interest in his companies, lied to the bankruptcy court, and defrauded the *864 Social Security Administration. Before the plea was entered, the court and the government expressed reservations about letting jurors leave the courthouse, due to Agboola’s prior withdrawal of his guilty plea. The government opposed permitting Agboola to plead nolo contendere to any counts, stating it was prepared to go to trial and prove all the charges in the indictment. The government opined “it [was] not in the public interest of the effective administration of justice to allow the defendant to plead nolo contendere, thereby necessitating a contested eviden-tiary hearing down the line with respect to all of these matters that are before the Court and could be resolved by a jury at this point.” The district court accepted Agboola’s pleas.

The district court held sentencing evi-dentiary hearings (evidentiary hearings) in July and August 2003. On December 13, 2003, Agboola again moved to withdraw his guilty plea. The district court denied his motion, noting the government’s position at the change-of-plea hearing eleven months earlier that the government had been prepared to go to trial against Ag-boola at that time. The district court found the loss to others from Agboola’s property flipping scheme and bankruptcy fraud totaled $738,498, requiring a ten-level enhancement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
417 F.3d 860, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 16422, 2005 WL 1862202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-olusoji-michael-agboola-ca8-2005.