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Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby submitted paperwork for one-time withdrawals of $40,000 and $50,000, respectively, from the City of Baltimore’s Deferred Compensation Plans in May and December 2020, an indictment on file in U.S. District Court alleges.
Mosby, 41, of Baltimore, falsely certified -- under penalty of perjury -- that she met at least one of the qualifications for COVID relief, federal authorities charged.
She "had not experienced adverse financial consequences stemming from the coronavirus as a result of ‘being quarantined, furloughed or laid off’ or ‘having reduced work hours’ or ‘due to lack of childcare’ or ‘the closing or reduction of hours of a business I own or operate’,” the indictment says.
Mosby received her full gross salary of $247,955.58 from Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 29, 2020, up $10,000 from the year before -- hardly a hardship, federal authorities said.
What's more, Mosby lied on applications for a $490,500 mortgage to buy a home in Kissimmee, Florida and for a $428,400 mortgage to purchase a condominium in Long Boat Key, Florida, according to the four-count indictment, which charges her with perjury and making false mortgage applications.
Mosby was required to disclose her liabilities on both applications, but she left out unpaid federal taxes dating back several years, federal authorities charged.
She also failed to report that the IRS had placed a $45,022 lien against all property and rights to property belonging to her and her husband, City Council President Nick Mosby, for unpaid taxes, they said.
Mosby lied when she said the Kissimmee residence would be a second home, which got her a lower interest rate on the mortgage, the indictment charges. She'd enlisted a vacation home management company to rent the place out a week before closing, it says.
Mosby's lawyer, A. Scott Bolden, accused federal prosecutors of "personal, political and racial animus five months from her election” this June.
The charges contained in the indictment are “a far cry from criminal tax evasion and tax related charges that were at the heart of this federal investigation," Bolden said in a statement. "More importantly, Ms. Mosby has never lied or made a false statement in connection the allegations contained in the charging document.
"We will fight these charges vigorously."
Mosby made a national name for herself by bringing charges in the death of Freddie Gray after she was elected to be the city's top prosecutor in 2014. She was re-elected in 2018.
U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron announced the indictment with FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Sobocinski of the Baltimore Field Office and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Washington, D.C. Field Office.
Barron commended both agencies for their work in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leo J. Wise, Sean R. Delaney and Aaron S.J. Zelinsky are handling the case for his office.
Mosby's initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore has not yet been scheduled.
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