Rochester developer Bob Morgan has been indicted in a multi-million dollar fraud case.
Morgan was indicted on 45 counts that included wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire & bank fraud. He pleaded not guilty to all counts and posted 100,000 bond.
Morgan is the head of Morgan Management, a development company that owns a number of buildings across New York State. It is also involved in major city projects including Tower 280 and Parcel 5.
Morgan is the latest to official from Morgan Management to be indicted.
Morgan's son, Todd, and nephew, Kevin Morgan, along with co-defendants Frank Giacobbe and Patrick Ogiony were arrested last year on wire and bank fraud charges. They are accused of misleading financial institutions in order to secure larger loans than needed for development properties. Federal prosecutors say between 2011 and 2017, the four deceived creditors by securing bank loans totaling more than $167 million.
Prosecutors say the men inflated rent totals and overstated occupancy, fooling mortgage companies into thinking more people were living there.
Morgan's nephew took a plea deal in December. As part of the deal Kevin Morgan says the fraud was under the direction of his uncle.
The former operating officer for Morgan Management, Scott Cresswell, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud last month. He implicated Bob Morgan in the scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Authorities say Creswell, conspired with others to obtain insurance policy proceeds for repairs on properties managed by Morgan Management between 2017 and 2018.
In one case, Cresswell and others illegally earned $2.2 million by falsely inflating the contracts on 34 properties around Rochester following the March 2017 windstorm.