A medical office building in Plantation is headed to auction following a $10.5 million foreclosure judgment connected to an alleged Ponzi scheme that has since led to criminal charges against the loan’s guarantor.

Miami-based Best Meridian Insurance Co. secured the judgment in mid-November against 4100 Hospital Office LLC and Janalie C. Joseph, citing a loan with more than $6.4 million in principal still outstanding, plus accumulated interest and fees.

The 37,000-square-foot property, located at 4100 S. Hospital Drive and originally built in 1968, is scheduled for an online auction on Dec. 9.

The ownership group purchased the building in 2019 for $5.45 million and refinanced it in 2023 with a $6.48 million mortgage from Best Meridian. Court filings state that loan payments stopped just two months after the financing was issued, prompting the lender to file for foreclosure early this year. The LLC was later placed into receivership under attorney Andres Rivero as part of a broader SEC action targeting Joseph. Rivero informed the court he would not contest the foreclosure and intended to abandon the property.

The building is among several assets tied to an SEC civil complaint filed in August 2024 against Wells Real Estate Investment, Janalie Joseph—also known as Janalie Bingham—and Jean Joseph. Regulators say the pair raised at least $56 million from nearly 660 investors through what the SEC described as a Ponzi scheme, using roughly $11 million to acquire real estate while diverting most of the funds elsewhere. Federal judges issued judgments against the defendants later that fall, ordering them to cease violating securities laws and to return illicit gains, with financial penalties still pending. As receiver, Rivero has spent the past year working to sell off remaining properties.

The controversy deepened in late October, when federal prosecutors filed a criminal indictment against Jean and Janalie Joseph. They are accused of orchestrating the scheme and now face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, each carrying potential 30-year prison sentences. The criminal case is still underway.

Source:  SFBJ