A Boca Raton couple has pleaded guilty to federal charges for operating a $50 million real estate investment fraud scheme that victimized hundreds of investors over five years. Jean Joseph, 55, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, while his wife Janalie Camille Bingham, 44, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with their operation of Wells Real Estate Investment LLC. The couple ran the West Palm Beach-based company from 2017 through 2024, falsely advertising it as a real estate acquisition and development firm.
Joseph and Bingham promised investors their money would be secured by Wells’ valuable real estate portfolio, which they misrepresented as worth approximately $450 million. They told victims their investments would go toward increasing the value to existing residential and commercial assets and zoned parcels of land to be used as long-term revenue-generating properties, according to statements of evidence signed by both defendants. The couple raised more than $50 million from hundreds of investors through the sale of promissory notes.
In reality, only a small portion of the investor funds went toward actual real estate purchases. Joseph diverted $28 million from investors’ funds into speculative equities trading, losing approximately $12 million in the process. He created a trading room in his home and bragged to employees that he was able to double the company’s money, while Bingham opened dozens of brokerage accounts for his trading activities.
The couple also operated a Ponzi-like scheme, using $8 million in new investor funds to pay returns to long-time investors between 2020 and 2024. They misled investors by claiming Wells paid no commissions for the sale of promissory notes, while secretly paying 15 percent commissions totaling approximately $8 million. Joseph and Bingham spent $3.5 million of investors’ money on personal expenses, including purchasing a $1.9 million primary residence at 930 Parkside Circle in Boca Raton.
Joseph concealed his involvement in Wells Real Estate Investment due to a previous criminal conviction from 2019, when he pleaded guilty to wire fraud for misappropriating $3 million while operating Evergreen United Investments. He was ordered to pay $3 million in restitution and served 15 months in prison, being placed on supervised release in 2021. Joseph hid his role by representing his name as Jon to investors and Wells employees, transferring company ownership to Bingham’s name in 2019 while continuing to control operations.
Bingham served as the company’s CEO and was the sole signatory on Wells Real Estate Investment bank accounts, though Joseph directed her to make transactions according to his statement. Joseph did not hold an official position and was not identified on any company investor documents, even while serving his federal prison sentence and during his supervised release period. The indictments against both defendants were filed in October, approximately one year after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint against Wells.
Federal Judge Donald Middlebrooks has approved a court-appointed receiver’s efforts to sell properties tied to Joseph, Bingham and Wells Real Estate Investment. The receiver sold a five-bedroom home at 910 Parkside Circle for $1.8 million to the Michael Feingold Revocable Trust. Middlebrooks also authorized the December sale of a 2,600-square-foot, three-bedroom condominium at 3968 North Ocean Drive 7, which traded for $842,500.
Among other Wells-tied properties being liquidated are 10 Boca Raton office condominium units, which Middlebrooks approved to be transferred through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure due to a foreclosure suit filed before the SEC’s case against Wells. Both Joseph and Bingham are scheduled to be sentenced on June 4, with the public defender representing Joseph declining to comment on the case.