Feds Offer New Details On Marilyn Mosby Case In Court Filing
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Federal prosecutors on Thursday filed a superseding indictment against Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, adding new details to the allegations she lied on loan applications to purchase two vacation homes in Florida.
At the time of closing on a condo in Long Boat Key, Mosby needed nearly $36,000 to close on the property but only had just over $31,000. She sent a letter to the mortgage company saying her husband, City Council President Nick Mosby, had given her $5,000 as a gift to put toward closing costs, prosecutors say.
In actuality, prosecutors allege, she wired the money to Nick's savings account and then had him wire it to the escrow agent, making it appear as a gift.
"Mosby submitted the false gift letter on February 10, 2021, in order to lock in a lower interest rate than she would have received if she waited until her next paycheck was deposited into her checking account," prosecutors said in Thursday's filing.
The new charging document includes a letter from Mosby, dated Dec. 10, 2020, to a mortgage company, in which the city's top prosecutor said she'd been working remotely in Florida for 70 games. Federal prosecutors say this is false.
The superseding indictment did not add any additional counts against Mosby.
She was charged on Jan. 13 with two counts of perjury and two counts of making a false statement on a mortgage application, which are linked to the purchases of two vacation homes in Florida.
Prosecutors had previously alleged Mosby made false statements on the applications for a $490,500 home in Kissimmee and the $428,400 condo, saying she did not disclose an IRS lien on the couple's home over unpaid federal taxes.
The indictment also alleges Mosby "falsely executed" a second-home rider in August 2020 after finalizing an agreement with a vacation home management company, giving the management company control over the rental of the property.
The rider, which allows a homeowner to rent out their property after living there for a year, allowed her to get a lower interest rate on the home than she would have otherwise, the charging document said.
Prosecutors say Mosby took out $40,000 and $50,000 from her city retirement account through a CARES Act provision that waived penalties on withdrawals for people who were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mosby had not endured financial hardship as a result of "being quarantined, furloughed or laid off" or "having reduced work hours," among other reasons, according to the indictment.
Her 2020 gross salary, nearly $248,000, was never reduced, but rather it represented an increase compared to her 2019 gross salary of nearly $239,000, prosecutors say.
Mosby has maintained her innocence, saying the charges against her are a politically motivated backlash against her progressive policies.
Speaking outside her office in January, Mosby took aim at the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is bringing the case against her.
"I fought back against the same U.S. Attorney's Office that is charging me now when they warned me not to charge the police in the Freddie Gray case. I fought back against the same federal prosecutors who are prosecuting me now who maliciously and erroneously implicated my office in the Gun Trace Task Force scandal," she told reporters.