A federal jury in Tucson acquitted one of three defendants in an $18.4 million real estate fraud scheme.
Peter Cash Doye, 41, was indicted in August 2016 on 17 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court records show.
The jury acquitted him on all charges on Aug. 24, according to records from U.S. District Court.
The FBI said Doye, working as the senior managing director of Variant Holding Co., a real estate development firm with offices in San Diego and Tucson, defrauded real estate companies of $18.4 million through asset sales and by filing fraudulent invoices for renovation work that was never done.
Had he been convicted, Doye would have had to forfeit the proceeds of the fraud scheme, according to court documents.
In a news release following his acquittal, Doye said he was “grateful to be exonerated from the baseless charges, brought out by false accusations from individuals who I once considered friends.”
Two other defendants, Tucson lawyer Jeffrey Greenberg, 67, and Coronado, California, resident Courtland Gettel, 43, pleaded guilty in May 2016 to charges of conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy in federal court in the Southern District of California. Gettel was the CEO of Variant Holding Co. and Greenberg was an attorney for the company.
Gettel is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 25 and Greenberg on Oct. 2, court records show.
Gettel also was charged in federal court in Arizona with two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He pleaded guilty and faces up to 10 years in prison, court records show. His sentencing in Arizona, which was postponed until after his sentencing in California, is scheduled for Oct. 16.
Greenberg also was charged with wire fraud in federal court in Arizona, but the case was transferred to California.
Doye said in the press release that “key evidence from the prosecution showed negligence and misconduct by the prosecution, which included witness intimidation and inconsistent testimony by the federal government’s own informant.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona would not comment.
