BOCA RATON, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2026) — A Boca Raton man and woman have pleaded guilty in a federal fraud case tied to what prosecutors describe as a years-long real estate investment scheme that took in more than $50 million from investors through false claims about property assets, commissions, and the use of investor money.
Jean Joseph, 55, of Boca Raton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. His co-defendant, Janalie Camille Bingham, 44, also of Boca Raton, previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud. The case is being prosecuted in the Southern District of Florida, where federal authorities say the two operated Wells Real Estate Investment, LLC and sold investors on a real estate portfolio that did not exist as represented.
According to the case record, Joseph and Bingham formed Wells Real Estate Investment in or around 2017 and ran the company together, with Bingham serving as chief executive officer. Starting in about 2019, prosecutors said the pair concealed Joseph’s role in the business after he became a convicted felon.
Federal prosecutors said the investment pitch centered on promissory notes sold between about 2019 and 2024. Investors were told their money would be used to acquire and improve residential and commercial real estate, and that the notes were backed by valuable property holdings.
Instead, prosecutors said, only a small portion of investor money went to real estate.
The government said Joseph diverted about $28 million into speculative equities trading. Prosecutors also said Joseph and Bingham falsely claimed the notes were secured by a real estate portfolio said to be worth as much as $450 million, even though neither Wells Real Estate nor the defendants owned enough property assets to back the investments.
The case also alleges that investors were misled about commissions. Joseph and Bingham told investors Wells Real Estate did not pay commissions on note sales, prosecutors said. In reality, the company paid commissions as high as 15%, distributing about $8 million in investor funds to sales personnel.
Prosecutors further said the pair used money from newer investors to make more than $8 million in Ponzi-style payments to earlier investors without telling them where those payments were coming from. They also allegedly used more than $2 million in investor funds for personal expenses, including the down payment on a $1.95 million home they used as their primary residence.
According to prosecutors, the home was purchased through a limited liability company and then later transferred into Bingham’s name.
The case also reaches back into Joseph’s prior criminal history. Prosecutors said that even after Joseph began serving a prison sentence in June 2020 in an unrelated wire fraud case, he continued directing parts of the Wells Real Estate scheme from prison. Earlier, in October 2019, Joseph and Bingham opened a Wells Real Estate bank account with Bingham listed as the sole authorized signer because Joseph was facing criminal prosecution at the time. Prosecutors said Joseph still directed transactions involving that account, including while he was incarcerated.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said the defendants “sold the illusion of a $450 million real estate portfolio that simply did not exist,” and accused them of diverting investor money into speculative trading, paying large commissions, buying a luxury home, and using new investor funds to make payments to earlier investors.
Joseph is scheduled to be sentenced June 4. Bingham is scheduled to be sentenced May 8. U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez will impose sentence after considering the federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Miami Field Office investigated the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also assisted after previously bringing a civil action against Joseph and Bingham.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eli S. Rubin and Roger Cruz are handling the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Grosnoff is handling asset forfeiture.
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