ABC Capital’s Jay Walsh, accused by investors of running a Ponzi-style scheme that affected thousands of homes in Baltimore and Philadelphia, was convicted of acting as a contractor without a license and ordered to pay $20,500 restitution.
Baltimore District Court Judge Kent Boles Jr. acquitted Walsh of the most serious charge he faced, one count of felony theft. Still, the court outcome on Thursday represented a rare victory for those who say Walsh has evaded accountability.
Walsh’s company sold scores of homes in distressed areas of the city to investors — many of whom live overseas — with the promise to fix up the properties and rent them out. But ABC often did not follow through, leaving them grasping for help and causing city neighborhoods to fall into further disrepair, according to civil lawsuits and an investigation by The Baltimore Banner.
The criminal case was brought on behalf of one jilted investor by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission, a consumer watchdog unit within the Maryland Department of Labor. Investigator Stanley Appel said he hopes the conviction is “a little rock that puts a chip in the window.”
The investor at the center of the case, victim Fernando Iacomacci, travelled from abroad for the proceedings and said he stuck with the case because he knew it was bigger than him.
“I believe in the USA justice system,” he said through his nephew, an interpreter. “But you have to follow the steps and make the effort to make sure justice works.”
Walsh declined to comment outside of the courthouse.
The international real estate matter was an outlier on the city’s District Court docket, where other cases included disputes between neighbors, destruction of property related to a road rage incident and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
Walsh’s attorney, Kevin Carr, argued that Walsh shouldn’t be held personally and criminally accountable for actions undertaken by his corporation and that the matter belonged in civil court.
ABC Capital filed for bankruptcy after its problems were publicized, and a trustee overseeing that process determined that the company had no assets — essentially parking dozens of pending civil cases. Walsh now lives in Aruba, where he continues to dispense real estate advice.
The judge, Boles, sentenced Walsh to six months in jail, with the entire term suspended, and ordered that the restitution be paid within a month. Boles said he would likely alter the conviction to probation before judgment if Walsh complied; he said he could impose jail time if he does not.
Walsh said he would make the payment through his attorney’s escrow account.
“These types of cases are immensely complex to prosecute but are also exceedingly important to litigate because of the financial ruin inflicted upon the victims and communities in our city,” Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said in a statement.
Working with a real estate agent in Florida, Iacomacci was connected with Walsh and entered into an agreement to buy a home in the 2500 block of Hollins Street in late 2022. The contract called for Walsh’s company to perform a full renovation of the home for $20,500.
Iacomacci’s nephew, Giancarlo Iacomacci, visited the property in the spring, and saw it was boarded up. He summoned a home inspector, and once inside saw that the home was in a “terrible” condition that included mold and unstable floors and steps.
“I felt unsafe inside the property,” Giancarlo Iacomacci testified.
They reached out to Walsh, but eventually he stopped responding, they testified.
At one point, Boles asked Assistant State’s Attorney Samantha Danzinger what condition the property was in prior to the sale. Danzinger said the question was irrelevant to whether Walsh had stiffed the investor.
“Someone who is unlicensed doesn’t have the right to enter into these contracts in the first place,” Danzinger said.
Boles acquitted Walsh of theft, saying that Walsh did not have exclusive responsibility within ABC Capital to perform the renovations. But he convicted him on the counts of selling home improvement without a license and acting as a contractor without a license, and merged them.
Meanwhile, the Maryland Insurance Administration is conducting an investigation of transactions involving ABC Capital that were facilitated by a now-defunct title company, Castle Title. Accusations have included forged deeds and payments wired for home purchases that never took place.
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office earlier this year reached a deal with Walsh over unfair or deceptive trade practices that allowed him to avoid paying fines or admitting wrongdoing.
Appel, the home improvement commission investigator, said he hopes more alleged victims of unlicensed and shoddy contractors come forward, though the office has few resources.
“So many people think, ‘I gave this guy X amount of money and he ran off with it, and there’s nothing I can do except try to chase him civilly,’ and that’s not the case,” Appel said. “We’re there to stand up for the consumer. There is something we can do. We can protect people.”
