Former Rep. T.J. Cox (D-CA) was indicted by a federal grand jury on 28 charges after multiple alleged fraud schemes, documents unsealed Tuesday revealed.
The onetime Democratic star who flipped a Republican seat during the blue wave of 2018 was arrested Tuesday morning and booked in Fresno County Jail, per public records from the county sheriff’s office. Cox could face decades in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines, should the former congressman be convicted.
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Cox, 59, was indicted by a federal grand jury on 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of illegal conduit contributions to his congressional campaign, and one count of financial institution fraud on a mortgage, according to the Justice Department.
The former congressman diverted about $1.7 million from his business, including client payments, loans, and investments, into off-the-books bank accounts and then stole the money for personal use, the indictment alleges. This allegedly took place between 2013 and 2018 during two different schemes.
In another alleged scheme, the former congressman falsely told a lender that he was seeking a mortgage to live in a house despite intending to use the property to rent to someone else, per the indictment.
He also fraudulently secured a $1.5 million construction loan to build a development project in Fresno by falsely claiming that an affiliated company would back the loan, according to the indictment. Ultimately, the loan was defaulted at a loss of roughly $1.28 million, per the DOJ. Cox was also accused of reimbursing people who donated to his congressional campaign in violation of laws governing campaign finance laws.
If convicted, Cox could face up to 20 years behind bars and a $250,000 fine for the charges related to wire fraud and money laundering, 30 years and a $1 million fine for “wire fraud affecting a financial institution and financial institution fraud,” and up to five years and a $250,000 fine for campaign contribution fraud, per the DOJ.
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IRS and FBI officials are investigating the case against Cox. The Washington Examiner reached out to a press contact for T.J. Cox for Congress seeking comment.
The former congressman drew national attention when he ousted incumbent Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) during the 2018 blue wave year in which Democrats roared back to power in the House. In the 2020 election, however, Valadao managed to beat Cox and reclaim his seat in California’s 21st Congressional District.
