cedar rapids landlord sentenced to 20 years for mail fraud, tax fraud, and perjury
Contact: Peter Deegan
A Cedar Rapids landlord who defrauded an insurance company, tenants, and the U.S. Treasury was sentenced to 20 years’ prison on September 27, 2010, in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Robert Miell, 56, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the prison term after January 3, 2009, guilty pleas to 18 counts of mail fraud and 2 counts of perjury and a jury verdict on January 9, 2009, finding him guilty of 2 counts of filing false federal tax returns.
From December 2001 through at least December 2002, Miell, the owner of hundreds of rental properties in the Cedar Rapids area, carried out a scheme to defraud an insurance company. Miell fraudulently collected insurance payments by falsely reporting to his insurance company he had paid for completed roof repairs on approximately 145 hail-damaged properties and by providing false documentation to support these claims when he only had repaired 30 of the roofs. Miell committed perjury in connection with his testimony in a federal civil law suit brought by the insurance company against Miell over the hailstorm scheme.
From at least as early as 2000 and continuing through at least 2007, Miell also carried out a scheme to defraud renters by retaining damage deposits by using false and fraudulent representations. Miell fraudulently kept renters’ damage deposits at the conclusion of their rental periods by falsely informing the renters they caused damages to the rental property and that cleaning, repair, and replacement costs were equal to or in excess of the renters’ damage deposits. To complete this scheme, Miell sometimes produced fraudulent invoices from a company called “The Home Doctor” that he submitted in state court trials to prove the costs of alleged damage to his properties.
Miell filed false federal tax returns in 2001 and 2002 when he failed to report the hailstorm insurance proceeds as illegal income.
“It is truly fitting that someone who misused the court system to cheat people has now been brought to justice in court,” said United States Attorney Stephanie M. Rose. “Mr. Miell stole from others for years and now will pay with 20 years of his life.”
Miell was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Miell was sentenced to 240 months’ imprisonment. The Court imposed a fine of $250,000. A special assessment of $2,200 was imposed, and the Court required Miell to pay the costs of prosecution in the amount of $11,117.26. Miell must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
The Court has not yet entered an order regarding restitution. The matter of restitution was assigned to United States Magistrate Judge Jon Stuart Scoles for a report and recommendation. The parties have entered an agreement regarding restitution. Judge Bennett is expected to enter an order regarding restitution within 60 days.
Miell is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney C.J. Williams and was investigated by the United States Postal Service, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, and the Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau.
