HOUSTON, TX - A 63-year-old Houston resident who was the manager of large homeowners association has pleaded guilty to wire fraud, according to Alamdar Hamdani, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas .
Maria Denise Southall-Shaw was the manager of Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland. She admits defrauding FirstService Residential, a company which managed the Shadow Creek Ranch homeowner associations.
As part of her plea, Southall-Shaw approved invoices from a vendor for goods and services which she knew had not been provided.
"In return, the vendor then provided kickbacks to her," Federal prosecutors said in a Pess Release. "From November 2013 through November 2017, the vendor would pay Southall-Shaw half of payments they received from the fraudulent invoices, which were allegedly for goods such as pool equipment and supplies but not actually provided to Shadow Creek Ranch. Southall-Shaw admitted she approved the invoices. In return, the vendor made his payments to Shawdashian Group, a company Southall-Shaw owned."
U.S. District Judge Randy Crane accepted Southall-Shaw’s guilty plea and set sentencing for Sept. 19. At that time, Southall-Shaw faces up to 20 years in federal prison as well as a possible $250,000 maximum fine.
She was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Braddock is prosecuting the case.