A Grand, Expensive Scheme: House Flipper Pleads Guilty To Fraud

Suzanne Griffiths, 46, pleaded guilty to misappropriating more than $3 million of investor funds through her Minnesota-based home flipping business. She pleaded guilty in front of the U.S. District Judge Joan N. Ericksen to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Her sentencing date has not been determined. 

Griffiths allegedly promised investors various manners of repayment in return for investments, as well as falsified documents and misappropriated investment money for personal use.

According to court documents, Griffiths solicited a $100,000 investment from an investor to finance the renovation of a property in November 2018. After promising to file mortgage documents that would label the investor as an owner of the property, Griffiths failed to do so, resulting in the investor losing the entire investment. 

Griffiths solicited a $70,000 investment from another investor in July of 2020, resulting in the investor losing their money, according to court documents. Griffith also allegedly altered documents, purposely omitted information about the property and gave the potential investor false information regarding their investment. 

The case is the result of an investigation led by IRS – Criminal Investigations and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan L. Sing is prosecuting the case.