A Burbank man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison on Monday, May 4, for embezzling over $1.8 million from an elderly victim after offering to manage the victim’s inherited real estate and retirement savings, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Jamal “Jimmy” Dawood was also ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in restitution and fined $30,000, according to the DOJ. A jury found him guilty of six counts of wire fraud and nine counts of money laundering in July 2025.
In 2019, Dawood offered to help the man manage real-estate properties and retirement savings he had inherited from his late brother and helped him open a trust account to manage the savings, prosecutors said.
He then wired and transferred money from the trust account to accounts he controlled and to people he had business and personal relationships with, all without the victim knowing, the DOJ said.
Dawood had the victim transfer ownership of his house and his deceased brother’s real estate to multiple companies, telling the victim he “would retain an ownership interest in his residence and the inherited real estate through these companies,” which was false, as Dawood and his associates controlled the companies, prosecutors said.
Dawood used the money he obtained, at least $1,862,352, to buy real estate in La Crescenta and Fontana, the DOJ said.