Oregon Real Estate Investment Company Owner Pleads Guilty to $18 Million Fraud Scheme

Strategic Insights -

Robert D. Christensen, 55, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering for his role in an $18 million fraud scheme with his business partner and co-owner of the company. Christensen's partner, Anthony M. Matic, 55, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in March 2025. The pair devised a scheme to convince investors to fund the purchase and renovation of undervalued residential real estate properties, promising high returns and large lump sum payouts within short periods. However, the scheme failed to generate promised returns, and Christensen and Matic used new investments to repay earlier investors while submitting false loan applications to commercial lenders, defrauding them out of millions.

Key Takeaways:

  • Christensen and Matic's scheme defrauded individual investors out of more than $11 million and commercial lenders out of more than $7 million.
  • The pair promised high returns and large lump sum payouts to investors, but the scheme failed to generate promised returns immediately.
  • Christensen and Matic used new investments to repay earlier investors to keep their business afloat, but eventually used false loan applications to defraud commercial lenders.
  • The investors were led to believe they would be repaid their full principal investment along with interest as high as eight to fifteen percent and a large lump sum payout within periods as short as 30 to 90 days.
  • The schemes involved the purchase and renovation of undervalued residential real estate properties, which were later refinanced to extract increased value.
  • Conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and three years' supervised release.
  • Money laundering is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and three years' supervised release.
  • Both charges may also result in fines of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gains or losses resulting from the offense.

Statistics:

  • Amount defrauded from individual investors: $11 million
  • Amount defrauded from commercial lenders: $7 million
  • Total amount of fraud: $18 million
  • Length of the schemes: approximately January 2019 through June 2023
  • Number of investors involved: numerous individual investors
  • Number of commercial lenders involved: multiple commercial lenders
  • Sentencing date for Christensen and Matic: October 14, 2025

Sources:

  • Robert Trisotto, Assistant U.S. Attorney (as cited in the original text)
  • "FBI and IRS Investigating Oregon Real Estate Investment Company" (original source)
  • Robert D. Christensen, 55 (original source)
  • Anthony M. Matic, 55 (original source)