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Broker jailed 11 years for hotel transaction fraud
The president of a hotel brokerage is beginning a 11-year prison sentence after being found guilty of a multi-million dollar fraud involving the sale of several hotels.
Robert Timothy Koger, 48 of Virginia was found guilty of the illegal ‘flipping’ of hotels using straw buyers, extortion and operating a Ponzi scheme, which defrauded clients out of a total of $55 million.
Court records show that Koger defrauded Host Hotels and Resorts out of over $22 million in separate transactions after Koger was appointed by Host as a broker to sell two of its hotels.
In another fraud, Koger set up a Ponzi scheme to withhold and launder money received from prospective buyers of hotels that were to be held while negotiating with the hotels’ owners.
In a third scheme investigating FBI agents uncovered a plan to extort money from a Pittsburgh hotel owner.
Koger had pleaded guilty earlier this year to the charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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