Former Maryland State Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby lied about her finances during the COVID-19 pandemic to improperly access retirement funds that she used to buy two homes in Florida – feds allege

Prosecutors allege Mosby committed perjury when she took COVID-related hardship withdrawals from her retirement account for her travel business, Mahogany Elite

Mosby claims she was allowed to take the withdrawals because she lost money in that business.

Prosecutors argue that she had no adverse impact from the pandemic that would legally allow such withdrawals, that the business was not operational and did not have a single client  

She used the money – $90,000 – for down payments on two vacation homes in Florida

If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison on each of the two counts of perjury 

Former Maryland State Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby lied about her finances during the COVID-19 pandemic to improperly access retirement funds that she used to buy two homes in Florida, a federal prosecutor

The prosecution rested its case against former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby after less than two days of testimony and calling just three witnesses. 
Federal prosecutors told the federal court sitting in Greenbelt Maryland that former top Baltimore prosecutor lied about her finances during the COVID-19 pandemic to improperly access retirement funds that she used to buy two homes in Florida, a federal prosecutor said Monday at the start of Marilyn Mosby’s perjury trial.
The 2022 indictment accuses her of withdrawing $90,000 in retirement funds from her city account while falsely claiming that she had suffered financial hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic. She used the withdrawals as down payments to buy a home in Kissimmee, Florida, and a condominium in Long Boat Key, Florida.
The crux of the government case is that the money in the retirement account is held in trust and belongs to the city until a plan participant is eligible to make a withdrawal. Prosecutors argue that Mosby wasn’t entitled under federal law to access the funds in 2020 because her business, Mahogany Elite Enterprises, did not suffer any “adverse financial consequences” from the pandemic – since Mosby’s business had no clients or revenue.
“How can you have adverse financial consequences if you were paid the same salary for your job?” the prosecutor asked. “How can a business close if it was never operable?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Delaney said.
Mosby’s Defense attorney Maggie Grace said prosecutors can’t prove that Mosby lied about her finances and knowingly made a false statement on the form for accessing her retirement fund. She kept her personal business separate from her public service. “What she did is not criminal.”
They included a forensic accountant with the FBI who reviewed Mosby’s financial records in detail.
The defense filed a motion to acquit, and the judge denied it. 
The defense began with witness Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership. 
She spoke about the two of them discussing creating a retreat and travel business after a trip together to Jamaica. “The idea was to monetize the experience we felt. We wanted to create something that was for women like us,” Stokes testified. 
Stokes said, “When we came home, she started the business without me.”

Feds allege Mosby committed perjury when she took COVID-related hardship withdrawals from her retirement account for her travel business, Mahogany Elite. Prosecutors said she had no adverse impact from the pandemic that would legally allow such withdrawals

Mosby’s lawyer cross-examined the FBI’s forensic accountant Jenna Bender. It followed extensive testimony about the former Baltimore City state’s attorney’s finances.Mosby, 43, was indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2022 and is charged with two counts of perjury, as well as making false statements on mortgage applications. The mortgage charges were severed and will be tried separately; the case is being held in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, where Mosby argued she was more likely to receive a fair trial.
Marilyn Mosby, 43, served two terms as Baltimore’s state’s attorney, taking office in 2015 as one of the youngest top prosecutors in the country and rocketing to national prominence after charging six city police officers in the death of Freddie Gray. She left office in January 2023, after she lost the path to reelection last year, beaten in the primaries by a democratic challenger.
Mosby earned $250,000 annually as state’s attorney, and had funds in a retirement account with the city. She took two disbursements from that account in 2020.
The sum of $90,000 was taken in tranches of $40,000 and $50,000. She used the money for down payments on two vacation homes in Florida.
In each request, the indictment alleges that Mosby falsely certified that she met at least one of the qualifications for a distribution as defined under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act; specifically, that she was experiencing adverse financial consequences from the coronavirus as a result of being quarantined, furloughed, or laid off; having reduced work hours; being unable to work due to lack of child care; or the closing or reduction of hours of a business she owned or operated, although she received her full salary for the year. 

Former federal prosecutor for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby who is facing perjury charges leaves the US District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland on Monday. The mercurial former prosecutor told reporters she was “blessed,” on her way out. Her defense team argue that what she did with her funds is not criminal

Mosby claims she was allowed to take the withdrawals because she lost money in her travel business, Mahogany Elite. But prosecutors said the business was not operational and did not have a single client. The government alleges Mosby committed perjury when she took COVID-related hardship withdrawals from her retirement account for her travel business, Mahogany Elite. She had no adverse impact from the pandemic that would legally allow such withdrawals, prosecutors said.
The jury also heard recordings of Mosby with customer service representatives of her retirement plan as she asked about taking out money to buy homes. 
If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison on each of the two counts of perjury. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.
Late Tuesday, the defense said they had presented all other witnesses, and Judge Lydia K. Griggsby gave them until Wednesday morning to make that decision. 
Mosby has yet to decide on testifying in her defense, at the risk of the prosecution raising questions about her tax deductions and a past contempt violation.
The court made public the exhibits the government presented in court, which include financial documents related to Mahogany Elite and various expenses Mosby claimed as deductions for the business.
The court also played recordings of Mosby with customer service representatives of her retirement plan as she asked about taking out money to buy homes. 
The prosecution concluded its case on Tuesday. 
U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby agreed to move Mosby’s trial from Baltimore to Greenbelt, Maryland, in Prince Georges County instead.
Mosby’s attorneys argued that she couldn’t get a fair trial in Baltimore, where they said she has been a “lightning rod” for nearly a decade, bombarded by negative press coverage and “dogged by persistent criticism of her prosecutorial priorities.”A. Scott Bolden, a lawyer who initially represented Mosby but later withdrew from the case, has described the charges as “bogus” and claimed the case is “rooted in personal, political and racial animus.”
Mosby was in the national spotlight In 2015, her first year in office, when she pursued criminal charges against six Baltimore City police officers in Freddie Gray’s death, a Black man who died in police custody. Gray suffered a spinal injury after police handcuffed, shackled and placed him headfirst into a van. His death led to riots and protests in the city. None of the officers was convicted.
Prosecutors countered that Mosby was complaining about press coverage that she had sought and encouraged. The trial ultimately was moved from Baltimore to Greenbelt.