AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin man must pay more than $5 million in restitution and spend 70 months in prison for cheating hotel investors out of money.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Jason Michael Schubert, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction involving criminally derived property back in December 2020.
The DOJ said according to court paperwork, Schubert carried out the fraud scheme from 2012 until 2018.
He would identify potential investors by holding seminars called “Rich in Five,” which were about making money from investing in hotels. Participants were charged “substantial fees” to attend, the DOJ said.
Schubert then got money from participants to invest in preexisting hotel properties he managed, telling the investors they would profit without much work on their end, the DOJ said.
But the hotels were older and in “substantial disrepair,” the DOJ said. Even though he didn’t have experience in hotel management, Schubert led investors to believe the funds would be used to renovate the properties.
The DOJ said Schubert misappropriated the investors’ money by paying himself large “management fees.”
Eventually, the hotels went into foreclosure with a loss of more than $5 million to investors.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with help from the Internal Revenue Service, the Texas State Securities Board and the Texas Department of Insurance.
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