Florida businessman indicted for defrauding real estate developers out of millions of dollars

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A Florida businessman made his initial appearance after a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, returned an indictment charging him with defrauding corporate clients in Kansas, Missouri, Utah, and Ohio by fraudulently inducing them to enter loan agreements to finance construction projects and then misappropriating more than $4 million in deposits made by the victims.

According to court documents, David Ingram, 72, of Sanford, Florida (previously of North Carolina), is charged with four counts of wire fraud.

Ingram is accused of making false representations to developers seeking loans for large-scale construction projects. Ingram represented that his company, AltosGroups, had lines of credit with major international financial institutions. Multiple times in 2019, Ingram required victims to wire deposits into AltosGroups bank accounts as a condition of obtaining financing, and he told them the deposits would be placed in dedicated escrow or reserve accounts. Instead, Ingram allegedly commingled most of that money with other funds and made unauthorized transactions including transfers to his and his wife's bank accounts for personal use. One $3 million deposit was sent to a Mexican financial institution without the developer's knowledge or authorization. AltosGroups then canceled the financing contracts with the developers without returning the deposits.

The defendant made his initial court appearance on July 30, 2024, in the Middle District of Florida. He is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Teresa J. James of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas at 1:30 p.m. on August 14, 2024.

IRS Criminal Investigations and the U.S. Secret Service are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan J. Huschka is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
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