Federal prosecutors have updated their case against Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, filing a superseding indictment late Thursday that expands on what they allege is a case of financial fraud she committed.
In layman’s terms, a superseding indictment is when charges are filed that update or replace the initial case filed by a prosecutor against the accused. Mosby was originally indicted Jan. 13, by a federal grand jury on two counts of perjury and two counts of making a false statement on a loan application, all stemming from $40,000 in loans Mosby took from her own city retirement account to pay for vacation homes in Florida. She pleaded not guilty to every charge.
The new indictment added information, including a letter written and signed by Mosby, dated December 10, 2020, which was, “to be submitted by her loan broker to the mortgage company,” according to court documents. The letter states that Mosby and her family live in Baltimore but had spent 70 days living in Florida during the Covid-19 quarantine in 2020, and wished to purchase a condo in Longboat Key, Fla., next door to a house her sister owned.
From the indictment
In that letter, Mosby falsely represented that she had spent the past 70 days living in Florida and working remotely when she, in fact, had not. Her loan broker submitted the letter to United Wholesale Mortgage on or about January 15, 2021. United Wholesale Mortgage reviewed this letter when it changed the mortgage from one for a primary resident, which is what Mosby had indicated it would be used for when she first applied, to a secondary residence.
The indictment goes on to allege that Mosby lied on the mortgage application by saying she had no outstanding federal debt, when at the time had a $45,022 tax lien against her.
Trial in the case is set to begin in May. Mosby still holds her office in Baltimore and is up for re-election, with a primary scheduled for June 28.
Mosby is best known for being at the vanguard of a new breed of local prosecutors who, unlike their predecessors, were willing to take on police departments despite the fact that their cases depended on a strong working relationship with cops. After she unsuccessfully prosecuted six cops for the 2015 death of Freddie Gray, she became the subject of political attacks and threats. Some of the cops she prosecuted sued her, despite the fact that a grand jury found probable cause for the charges she filed.
It’s unclear how long the federal investigation of Mosby and her husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby was ongoing, but it became public knowledge last spring, according to Fox 45. Nick Mosby has not been charged in the case.