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Marilyn Mosby, her husband, Nick Mosby, and her attorneys are out of court after a federal judge ordered her trial delayed until September 2022. (Daily Record / Madeleine O’Neill)
Former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said she planned to open her travel business to black women professionals when she was the city’s top prosecutor, but scrapped those plans in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic crippled the travel industry, new court documents show.
Whether the confirmation is true, Mosby could be at the center of an upcoming federal trial on perjury and mortgage fraud charges.
Federal prosecutors said the statement was an effort by Mosby to testify without taking the stand. But Mosby’s defense team appears poised to argue that the business failure is a pandemic-related setback that Mosby is eligible to withdraw from her retirement account early under the CARES Act.
Mosby was accused of lying about having an epidemic-related problem to get the money, which she put down payments on two Florida vacation homes.
According to new court documents, Mosby told a defense attorney that she planned to launch travel business Mahogany Elite Enterprises in 2020 — though after the pandemic caused widespread shutdowns later that year, Mosby said she had no plans. Running the business while she was a state attorney.
Mosby’s claim appears among documents filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Both of Mosby’s pleas were filed under seal, a practice that has become the defense team’s practice since Mosby’s indictment in January 2022.
Those on public display could face another protracted battle over expert witnesses before Mosby’s trial.
Disputes over expert witnesses have previously delayed Mosby’s trial, which has been postponed twice. Jury selection in the case will now begin on March 23, although Mosby has requested that her trial be moved to Greenbelt because of a pretrial release.
U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Grigsby will consider several motions, including a request for a change of venue, at a Jan. 17 hearing.
The indictment against Mosby also alleges she failed to disclose a $45,000 IRS lien, lied about the source of a $5,000 “gift” from her husband and made other false statements when applying for loans on two Florida vacation homes.
The defense and prosecution presented expert witnesses who could testify about Mosby’s finances and the mortgage approval process. Both sides say they should prevent the other’s witnesses from testifying.
One of the government’s witnesses, certified public accountant Joshua A. Johnston testified that Mosby did not have the financial hardship to qualify for withdrawals from her retirement account under the CARES Act.
“Ms. Mosby’s use of her proceeds[from coronavirus-related distributions]to fund new investments in Florida real estate provides strong evidence that she is not facing the current revenue shortfall that the CARES Act sought to address.
Johnston also testified that one of Mosby’s expert witnesses, Jerome Schmidt, violated professional standards when he concluded that Mosby suffered epidemic-related losses.
Schmidt, a defense expert, said Mosby told him of her plans to launch Mahogany Elite in 2020. Prosecutors want those conversations dismissed as hearsay so Schmidt can’t testify about them.
Mosby’s businesses have been the source of inquiries since Baltimore Brown reported their existence in July 2020. Baltimore’s inspector general investigated the businesses and Mosby’s extensive travel at Mosby’s request. The resulting report largely cleared her of wrongdoing in early 2021.
The investigation found “no evidence of income or revenue from SA Mosby’s companies since their inception,” but Mosby reported spending more than $7,000 on his businesses in 2019.
Mosby’s defense team also asked the prosecutor to impose a penalty for failing to submit Brady Materials or Evidence for Defense.
Mosby’s attorneys face potential penalties for including confidential information from juror interviews in an earlier court filing. Grigsby will weigh in next week on the government’s request to bar Mosby’s attorneys from speaking to the media.
Mosby is no longer Baltimore’s state’s attorney. Evan Bates, a former prosecutor and defense attorney, won the Democratic primary in July and took office last week.
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