Federal District Court Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby ordered this morning the forfeiture of Marilyn Mosby‘s Longboat Key condo in Florida, saying it was fraudulently obtained through a false gift letter.

While Griggsby agreed with the defense that the mortgage lender did not suffer apparent financial harm, “there had been a significant harm to the public because of Ms. Mosby’s role at the time as both an elected official and an officer of the court.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Williamson argued that Baltimore’s then-state’s attorney would not have been able to obtain the mortgage had she not filed a false gift letter.

The letter claimed that her then-husband, City Council President Nick Mosby, had gifted her $5,000 toward closing costs when, in fact, she had funneled her own money to him, which he deposited and sent to the escrow agent in his name.

“The defendant should not get to profit from her crime merely because she invested fraudulently-invested proceeds in an asset that happens to have appreciated in value,” Williamson said.

Mosby paid $476,000 for the Gulf Coast property in February 2021, having first withdrawn $50,000 from her city retirement account – certifying falsely, a jury ruled last November, that she suffered a financial hardship from the Covid pandemic and could withdraw the funds without penalty under a provision of the federal CARES Act.

The waterside property near Sarasota has since appreciated rapidly in value and is now worth at least $700,000 and perhaps as much as $890,000, the court was told.

Mosby will get back her down payment on the property, Griggsby ruled, plus 10% of the condo’s appreciated value.