Former Democratic Congressman TJ Cox (D-CA) has been indicted on 28 felony counts of fraud. Hardly surprising, since most Democrats are frauds. Cox was charged with 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of financial institution fraud, and one count of campaign contribution fraud. Prosecutors claim that Cox targeted companies he is affiliated with. He allegedly set up bank accounts where he was able to move the stolen money.
He diverted the money “through false representations, pretenses, and promises.” Starting in 2013, he was able to divert $1.7 million dollars to those accounts. Prosecutors also say that he was able to defraud a mortgage company by producing false statements and “fabricated bank statements.”
Cox was also able to secure a loan for $1.5 million dollars, ostensibly to build a recreational area within a public park. Cox and his partners were unable to secure such a loan without being able to establish that they had strong financial backing. So, once again, he created false documents that allowed him to obtain the loan. He later defaulted on the loan and the mortgage company took a $1.3 million dollar loss.
During Cox’s 2018 campaign, he was able to devise a scheme that would allow him“to fund and reimburse family members and friends for political donations to his reelection campaign.
If convicted, Cox faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and money laundering; 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for wire fraud affecting a financial institution and financial institution fraud; and five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for campaign contribution fraud.
The FBI arrested former one-term Democratic Rep. T.J. Cox on dozens of charges related to financial fraud, according to public records with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
The arrest took place around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Fresno, Calif., according to the records. A statement from the Justice Department said the former congressman was charged with “15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of financial institution fraud, and one count of campaign contribution fraud.”
The federal indictment accuses Cox of using a cluster of business entities to enrich himself while saddling business partners with losses. The document describes a scheme in which Cox siphoned off money into secret accounts and used the proceeds to pay off his own debts, cover personal costs like private school tuition and fund his political ambitions. He allegedly fabricated a board meeting to secure loan funding and lied on a mortgage loan application.
In a statement, DOJ said the California Democrat allegedly participated in “multiple fraud schemes” over a number of years. Between 2013 and 2018, he allegedly obtained “over $1.7 million in diverted client payments and company loans and investments” through off-the-books bank accounts.
