Real estate developer sentenced to eight years for grand theft of more than 2.8 million
A San Jose self-proclaimed real estate developer, 72-year-old Gilmore Erickson, was sentenced on Tuesday, June 17 for securities violations leading to a loss of more than $2.8 million by fooled investors. During his sentencing hearing, Erickson was ordered to pay full restitution following his conviction of securities fraud and grand theft. Erickson was also sentenced to eight years behind bars for the scheme that proposed two high-rise projects in the San Jose downtown area, which never broke ground.
According to Georg Behrens, Deputy District Attorney with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Major Fraud Unit, “Doing business under the names Northpoint Development, Grandpoint Community Builders, and Next Group, Erickson ran a real estate development company that claimed to control several prominent sites for high-rise development in downtown San Jose”. It was found that Erickson had defrauded millions of dollars from about 40 investors, according to the complaint.
Behrens said, “Advertising through a real estate investment club with a strong presence in the Bay Area,” Erickson enabled himself to be contacted by potential investors.
This however was not the first time Erickson had sought millions of dollars from investors in a staged plot to develop condominiums in the downtown area. Erickson told investors that their money was guaranteed by a family trust worth tens of millions of dollars, but he had failed to disclose to investors that he had been convicted of a similar real estate development scheme.
Behrens said, “He and his associates solicited investors for real estate development projects that included Delmas Towers, a condominium complex they planned to construct on Delmas Avenue, and Fifth Street Towers, a complex they planned to build on Santa Clara Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets”.
The initial investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation but was later passed on to investigators Enforcement Attorney Kelly Shinnick and Investigator Jennifer Marks of the Department of Business Oversight in conjunction with investigator Nicholas Olson of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
