Opinion ID: 1085639
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Manuel’s Fraud Offenses and Conviction

Text: Between July 2000 and November 2001, Manuel and a co-conspirator fraudulently solicited membership interests in a variety of programs owned and operated by Manuel. 1 Manuel represented to potential investors— most of whom were low- or moderate-income individuals seeking help purchasing or refinancing their homes— that, in exchange for payment of a membership fee (ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars), Manuel’s programs would provide assistance with debt consolidation, mortgage refinancing, and obtaining loans from banks. Manuel and his co-conspirator did not provide these benefits to the investors. Instead, unbeknownst to the investors, Manuel and his co- conspirator used the funds received from the investors for 1 These programs included the Future Millionaire’s Club, Manuelabor.com, Get-A-Crib.com, S.E.E.E.D. (Spiritual Empowerment Equals Economic Development) Consortium, MWM Enterprises d/b/a 4M Limited, and Debt Pool. 4 their own personal benefit. On November 12, 2003, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia indicted Manuel on four counts of mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, in connection with this scam. On May 11, 2004, Manuel pled guilty to one count of mail fraud and the count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. On October 26, 2004, the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Manuel to seventy-one months in prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release. As one condition of his supervised release, Manuel was required to refrain from any unlawful drug use and ordered to undergo periodic drug testing as directed by his probation officer. He also was prohibited from self-employment and from working in occupations where he would have access to personal or financial information during the period of supervised release.