Henry Co. man indicted for $1.3 Million real estate scam

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) - A federal grand jury in Roanoke indicted a Fieldale man of a fraudulent real estate scheme valued at more than $1.3 million.

Herman Lee Estes Jr., 40, has been charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of wire fraud, and one count of mail fraud. If convicted, Estes faces a maximum of 40 years in prison, according to court documents.

Court documents say Estes falsely claimed to a real estate agent that was owed a tax refund of $18 million, in which he later falsely claimed had went through. He then attempted to purchase a property valued around $1.3 million.

Estes paid for the property with a fraudulent cashier’s check that was later returned on April 17, 2023, by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and marked fraudulent, according to court documents.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Reserve Board, Office of Inspector General, and the Roanoke County Police Department are investigating the incident.

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