05:49 PM PST on Tuesday, January 31, 2006

By SUSANNAH FRAME / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - A KING 5 investigation led to a guilty plea in federal court Tuesday on charges of conspiracy.

KING

John Gonzalez

Last year the KING 5 Investigators uncovered an illegal home-selling scheme affecting real estate in Seattle and on the Eastside.

That got the FBI to launch their own investigation and Tuesday, a third suspect has been charged in the conspiracy.

The FBI arrested Ekram Almoussa and his  business partner Josh Kebede in September.

They're charged with masterminding an illegal property flipping scheme that netted them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On Tuesday, a third man, John Gonzalez, appeared in federal court in Seattle, answering to charges of being part of the conspiracy as well.

Gonzalez pleaded guilty to helping the men buy homes and re-sell them for hugely inflated prices, sometimes in a matter of hours.

His part was to give buyers, who were also in on the deal, fake jobs saying they were agents or vice presidents at his insurance company, when they actually did things like work in restaurants or clean houses.

"The conspiracy needed someone who would verify employment.  So he would falsely verify that these people worked for him at his insurance agency, when in fact they did not," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Lombardi.

That helped the men spin elaborate lies to the banks, to get the loans for their property flipping scheme.   

John Gonzalez is scheduled to be sentenced this spring.  But he's also agreed to testify against his one-time buddies, Almoussa and Kebede, which could  help him get a lighter sentence.