NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Suffolk man will spend over three years in prison for defrauding over a dozen real estate investors.

Court documents show that 52-year-old Kordrick Gibbons had a “reputation with his co-workers and friends as being a savvy investor who was financially successful.” He used this reputation from approximately 2015 through 2018 to convince his co-workers to “invest” in his real estate holdings.

In exchange, he promised them significant returns on their investments.

Officials say Gibbons claimed to invest in properties, including businesses and condominiums, and that investors could realize 50% to 100% returns on their investments in as little as four to six months. He falsified several documents to help show that he had ownership of said properties.

He would then email out the fake documents to his investors.

Several investors testified that Gibbons would make excuses as to why they had not yet received their money and would continue to promise them that they would be paid. At one point he lied and said a bank account had been frozen.

According to court documents, Gibbons defrauded at least 13 known victims and caused his investors to lose approximately $378,000. 

He was sentenced in the Eastern District of Virginia.