Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
A Suffolk man has been sentenced to nine years and two months in prison for defrauding investors, employees, and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Breon Clemons, 36, was found guilty of defrauding individuals associated with his business, GoGreen Farms, out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Court documents reveal that Clemons began working on his organic produce company in November 2017 while employed at a car dealership. He later formed several entities under the name GoGreen Farms and hired an acquaintance, P.C., using their personal information without consent.
In 2020, Clemons invited neighbor C.F. to invest $10,000 in the company. C.F. was later asked to provide her driver's license and Social Security number under false pretenses. In March 2022, C.F. discovered unauthorized financial activities linked to her name involving Capital One and American Express accounts.
Clemons falsely represented ownership details to TVT Capital for a loan application totaling $146,000 with interest included. When confronted by C.F., Clemons denied involvement but returned credit cards carrying significant balances.
Further investigation revealed that Clemons had also used P.C.'s personal information to secure a $25,000 line of credit from Bluevine Inc., advancing approximately $30,390 without consent.
While on pretrial release, Clemons continued fraudulent activities by deceiving investors H.H. and J.B., promising high returns within a week after taking $5,000 from each. He also attempted to secure a $1.1 million grant from the Virginia Department of Agriculture through false representations made from prison with family assistance.
The total fraud loss amounted to approximately $1.5 million with laundered funds reaching $218,442. Neither P.C. nor C.F authorized the use of their information for these financial dealings.
Erik S. Siebert from the U.S Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the sentencing alongside Kareem A Carter from IRS Criminal Investigation after Judge Arenda Wright Allen's ruling.
Assistant U.S Attorneys Mack Coleman and Brian J Samuels prosecuted this case.
