Feds: Marilyn Mosby Claimed COVID Financial Hardship While Earning Full $247,955.58 Salary

By Danielle E. Gaines, Maryland Matters

January 13, 2022

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby (D) was indicted by a federal grand jury on four charges Thursday, including perjury for falsely claiming a COVID-19 hardship on an application to withdraw $90,000 from her retirement account.

The withdrawals, without a tax penalty, were a temporary financial option created by the federal CARES Act for people who suffered hardships during the pandemic. Mosby’s annual salary is $247,955.58.

Mosby faces two counts of perjury for two separate withdrawals from the retirement account citing coronavirus-related hardships and two counts of making a false statement on a loan application.

Federal prosecutors say those false statements were made on mortgage applications for a home in Kissimmee, Fla., and a condominium in Long Boat Key, three hours to the west. As part of both applications, Mosby did not disclose a federal tax lien of $45,022 that had been placed against her and her husband, Baltimore City Council President Nick J. Mosby (D).

In each application, Mosby also responded “no” in response to the question, “Are you presently delinquent or in default on any Federal debt or any other loan, mortgage, financial obligation, bond, or loan guarantee,” even though she was delinquent in paying federal taxes to the IRS, prosecutors said.

Mosby took out a $490,500 mortgage on the Kissimmee home and a $428,400 mortgage on the Long Boat Key condo.

According to federal prosecutors, Mosby also signed a “second home rider” for the Kissimmee property, representing to the mortgage company that the house would be used primarily as a personal residence for at least one year and would not be rented as a vacation property. The rider was signed on Sept. 2, 2020; a week earlier, on Aug. 25, Mosby had signed an agreement with a vacation home management company to control the property, according to the indictment.

By saying the home would be for personal, and not rental, use, Mosby could secure a lower interest rate, federal prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, Mosby lied on paperwork for two withdrawals from her retirement account: $40,000 on May 26, 2020 and $50,000 on Dec. 29, 2020.

To qualify for a retirement distribution through the CARES Act provision, Mosby certified that she experienced adverse financial consequences from the pandemic for one of four allowable reasons: as a result of being quarantined, furloughed, or laid off; having reduced work hours; being unable to work due to lack of childcare; or the closing or reduction of hours of a business she owned or operated.

The indictment alleges that Mosby did not experience any such financial hardships and received her full gross salary of $247,955.58 from Jan. 1, 2020 through Dec. 29, 2020, in bi-weekly gross pay direct deposits of $9,183.54.

The maximum penalty for perjury is five years in federal prison; the maximum penalty for making false mortgage applications is 30 years.

An initial hearing in U.S. District Court has not been scheduled. A defense attorney who has been representing Mosby in recent months as a federal grand jury investigated, A. Scott Bolden, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.

This story will be updated.

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