BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2026 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A Boca Raton man with a prior federal conviction has pleaded guilty to his role in a years-long real estate investment fraud that bilked investors out of more than $50 million. Jean Joseph, 55, also known as “Jon,” entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit money laundering. His co-defendant and partner, Janalie Camille Bingham, 44, also of Boca Raton, had previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud. The two operated Wells Real Estate Investment, LLC, which they used to solicit investors from approximately 2019 through 2024. We reported on Joseph in 2017.
Prosecutors say the pair falsely told investors their money would be used to acquire and improve residential and commercial real estate, and that investment notes were secured by a portfolio worth as much as $450 million. In reality, no such portfolio existed. Joseph instead diverted approximately $28 million of investor funds into speculative equities trading, while the company paid roughly $8 million in commissions to sales personnel — commissions they had explicitly told investors did not exist.
The scheme had Ponzi-like elements, with the defendants using more than $8 million from newer investors to make payments to earlier ones, concealing the true source of those funds. The pair also used more than $2 million in investor money for personal expenses, including a down payment on a $1.95 million home that served as their primary residence. Remarkably, Joseph continued to direct aspects of the scheme from federal prison, where he was serving time on an unrelated wire fraud conviction beginning in June 2020.
Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez. Bingham’s sentencing is set for May 8 and Joseph’s for June 4. “These defendants sold the illusion of a $450 million real estate portfolio that simply did not exist,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. The investigation was announced by U.S. Attorney Reding Quiñones and FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the Miami Field Office.
