An Indianapolis man has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his involvement in a scheme that defrauded real estate investors. Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced the sentencing of Herbert Whalen, also known as "Bert Whalen," aged 50, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The case was heard in Newark federal court where Judge Madeline Cox Arleo imposed the sentence. The fraudulent activities took place between August 2016 and July 2018 in Indiana and New Jersey. Whalen operated Oceanpointe Property Management in Indianapolis and misled investors about the condition of properties managed by Oceanpointe. He created fake leases for unoccupied properties, promising investors returns once repairs were completed and tenants moved in.
In reality, many properties were not ready for occupancy. To hide this from investors, Whalen instructed employees to draft fake leases with fictitious tenant names. He also commingled tenant rent payments to selectively pay certain investors and prevent detection of the fraud.
Whalen further directed an employee to create a false identity online to claim that concerns about investment properties had been addressed, thereby preventing exposure of his fraudulent conduct. These actions resulted in millions of dollars in losses for investors while funding Whalen's lifestyle.
Alongside the prison term, Judge Arleo sentenced Whalen to three years of supervised release. The investigation was conducted by special agents of the FBI under Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Caroline Silane and Ari B. Fontecchio represented the government in this case.
Defense counsel was John L. Tompkins from Tompkins Law, Indianapolis, IN.