An elaborate scheme to purchase a $1.3 million home in Roanoke County has landed two men in prison with lengthy sentences.
Herman Estes Jr., of Fieldale, was sentenced to 84 months in prison; his co-conspirator Daniel Heggins, of Charlotte, N.C., was sentenced to 24 months in prison.
According to court records, the crime began when Estes filed an amended income tax return for 2021 falsely claiming he was entitled to a refund of $18.3 million. In March 2023, Estes filed another false tax return claiming he was entitled to a $2.9 million refund.
The wire and tax fraud scheme to obtain the title of a property on Old Mill Plantation Road began the same month that he submitted the second false tax return setting in motion a series of events that would eventually land him, and a co-conspirator, in prison.
Estes made a $1.3 million cash offer for the Roanoke County property, and at closing, tendered a fraudulent check signed by him and drawn off an account at Federal Reserve Bank.
Funds in that amount were debited to the settlement company’s trust account before the check was flagged as fraudulent.
The co-conspirator’s role was in posing as the trust manager for Heggins. Heggins told the real estate agent he was a trust manager, and he had the authority to approve the cash offer for the residence.
Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth K. Dillon for the Western District of Virginia also ordered Estes to serve three years of supervised release and Heggins to serve three years of supervised release.
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Crystal Graham
