A Suffolk man, Breon Clemons, has been sentenced to nine years and two months in prison for a series of fraudulent activities that resulted in losses amounting to approximately $1.5 million. The sentencing was announced by Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Kareem A. Carter, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge of the Washington D.C. Field Office.
Clemons's fraudulent activities began after he formed GoGreen Farms and Greenhouses, Inc., along with related entities, following discussions about starting an organic produce company while working at a car dealership in November 2017. In February 2020, Clemons recruited P.C., who had access to personal identifying information due to employment at GoGreen Farms.
In 2020, Clemons invited his neighbor C.F. to invest $10,000 in the business and later asked her to become an unpaid officer or director of the company. He obtained her driver's license and Social Security number under false pretenses related to business incorporation and credit applications.
By March 2022, C.F. discovered unauthorized financial activities linked to her name when Capital One contacted her about late payments on a joint account with GoGreen Farms. Further investigations revealed additional unauthorized accounts with American Express and TVT Capital.
Clemons also misused P.C.'s personal information without consent to secure a $25,000 line of credit from Bluevine Inc., forging signatures on necessary documents.
While on pretrial release, Clemons continued his fraudulent actions by defrauding individual investors H.H. and J.B., promising them high returns within a week for their investments totaling $10,000 combined. He also attempted to secure a $1.1 million grant from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services through falsified documentation submitted from prison with family assistance.
The court documents state that neither P.C. nor C.F authorized the use of their personal information for these transactions which resulted in laundered funds totaling $218,442.
Assistant U.S Attorneys Mack Coleman and Brian J Samuels prosecuted this case before U.S District Judge Arenda Wright Allen.