After a 14-day trial, a St. Louis, Missouri federal jury found Jeffrey Thomas guilty of four counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering and one count of bank fraud in connection with allegations arising from his construction of luxury homes.

Thomas owned, operated or directed businesses for the construction and sale of luxury homes, and purported to build homes on lots in subdivisions that were developed by others, and also owned and operated businesses for developing entire subdivisions. The businesses owned by, operated by, or affiliated with Thomas include: Thomas Homes, Inc.; Thomas Home Building Corporation; Thomas Construction Company; Thomas Development; Times Square LLC; Dream Homes LLC and Chesterfield Landing LLC.

According to the U.S. Attorney, Thomas accepted payments from three different buyers to build a house on the same lot in St. Louis County, Missouri. Although he was paid over $500,000, he did not complete the home or refund money but instead used the funds for personal purposes. Thomas also defrauded two couples in connection with two purported developments - Chesterfield Landing and Times Square. He obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars from buyers and their lenders and diverted it to his own uses. Thomas also was convicted for attempting to defraud a California bank in connection with the sale of his home while he was in bankruptcy.

According to a plea agreement entered into by Thomas’ alleged co-conspirator and business partner, Carlton Dinwiddie, Dinwiddie defrauded a property purchaser of $40,000 that the buyer paid for a lot and home in a proposed subdivision in St. Louis County, Missouri. Dinwiddie admitted with his plea that he and Thomas converted the $40,000 to their own use. Additionally, Dinwiddie admitted that he and Thomas devised a scheme to deprive Thomas’ creditors by creating a fraudulent second mortgage on Thomas’ personal residence.