Carel A. “Chad” Prater of Sarasota was found guilty of a vareity of government fraud-related charges, including corrupt interference with the federal tax laws, aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return, failure to file a tax return, criminal contempt, structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements and making false declarations before a grand jury this week.

Prater served as his own attorney during his trial, which is certainly allowed but never advised due to the nuances of criminal and constitutional law as well as the detailed rules which govern trial procedure.

In his own defense, he claimed that income earned in the United States is generally not taxable. According to law enforcement, Prater perpetrated a scheme by which he purported to help his clients “legally” avoid paying income taxes. He claimed he could legally remove his clients from the federal tax system. (more…)

A U.S. District Court judge in Tampa last week sentenced Rosa Barrett Herrera of New Port Richey to 51 months in federal prison for wire and mail fraud in connection with an accounts-receivable financing scheme. The court also entered a forfeiture judgment in the amount of $1,134,238.48 against Herrera and ordered her to make restitution to Capital Plus Equity, LLC in the amount of $489,238.48.

Herrera had pleaded guilty to the fraud back on October 27, 2009. (more…)

Fort Myers real estate agent Thomas Daugherty pleaded guilty earlier this month to federal tax evasion charges in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers.

Prosecutors alleged that Daugherty, who handled commercial real estate transactions, reported a total of $3,366,733 in income for the years 1998 through 2005. He reported $2,020,655 in income for the years 2006 and 2007. However, Daugherty failed to pay $1,648,227 in taxes for the years 1998 through 2005.

Law enforcement further alleged, and Daugherty admitted, that he maintained a lifestyle of hoarding and spending cash in order to hide his assets from the IRS during that time. He cashed his real estate commission checks or purchased cashier’s checks made out to himself, rather than depositing them into his bank account. From November 2002 through April 2008, Daugherty purchased more than 210 cashier’s checks totaling more than $2,190,000 and made payable to himself while maintaining nominal or negative bank account balances.

The failure to pay income tax alone would probably not have concerned federal authorities to quite the extent that Daugherty’s evasion tactics apparently did. Daughtery will now be the subject of a pre-sentence investigation and faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

Former Hillsborough Circuit Judge Thomas Stringer was sentenced in Tampa’s federal court last week for bank fraud. Stringer pleaded guilty to the charge in July and was sentenced to one year of supervised release.

Stringer, who also served as a Court of Appeal judge, reportedly engaged in a scheme to defraud a bank related to a mortgage loan. According to court documents, Stringer falsified his mortgage application for a home in Hawaii by claiming that he had borrowed none of his down payment, when in fact he had borrowed funds from a third party. (more…)

The former president of a Tampa mortgage company and his wife were sentenced to federal prison this week for defrauding banks and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for a combined $79 million. According to court documents, Corey and Sandi Brower ran GreatStone Mortgage and were involved in a conspiracy to defraud from 1999 to 2001.

According to court documents, in late 1998 or early 1999, GreatStone officers including the Browers devised a scheme to ease some cash flow problems by defrauding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and several financial institutions. Apparently, the company obtained funds by submitting loan documents to banks for mortgages which had already been funded with money obtained from other banks.

According to a former employee who also pleaded guilty to taking part in the plan, they would then change the date on a copy of the note and forge a signature of the mortgagee. The documents would then become part of the pyramid scheme in which GreatStone used money from fraudulent mortgages to repay earlier loans fraudulently obtained. (more…)

Peter James Porcelli II, a Pinellas County telemarketer, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Tampa on fraud charges. Porcelli is already serving 13 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2007 to wire fraud, mail fraud and conspiracy.

Prosecutors in the 2007 case, filed in federal court in Illinois, accused Porcelli of using his telemarketing company to target people who had troubled credit records, telling them their credit would improve if they paid $159 or more to receive a MasterCard credit card. No MasterCard was ever sent, according to court documents, just additional instructions to obtain a MasterCard pre-paid debit card.

As a result of those actions, dating back to 2001 and 2002, the Federal Trade Commission sued Porcelli and his companies, and obtained a restraining order that prohibited him from offering any credit or loan product for sale to consumers. (more…)

Earlier this month, we wrote about the federal indictment of Beau Diamond of Sarasota for wire fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors allege that Diamond ran an elaborate Ponzi scheme involving foreign currency (Forex) trading.

Although the national headlines have been dominated by the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme stories, Southwest Florida seems to have more than its fair share of these fraudulent stories.

Diamond, Arthur G. Nadel and John and Marian Morgan all face federal charges for allegedly fraudulent investment schemes based out of Southwest Florida. State investigators say there are likely dozens more schemes in various stages of investigation in Florida.

It seems that Southwest Florida’s laid-back lifestyle, its high per-capita wealth and its relative old age make the area attractive to financial scammers. Older residents, living on fixed incomes, often become vulnerable to the promises made by Ponzi schemers. (more…)

Beau Diamond of Sarasota, son of “Fit for Life” health guru Harvey Diamond, was charged last week in federal court with wire fraud and money laundering.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa alleges that Diamond engaged in a fraudulent Ponzi scheme involving foreign currency (or “Forex”) trading. They claim that about 200 investors contributed nearly $38 million to the younger Diamond for trading. Unfortunately, all of the funds were allegedly dissipated through Ponzi distributions, losing trades, and diversions to Diamond for his personal benefit. (more…)

A federal judge in Orlando sentenced tax preparer Jean Marie Boursiquot to two and a half years in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service earlier this month. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida, the district that also includes the Tampa Bay area.

Boursiquot pleaded guilty to the charges back in May. In addition to prison time, Boursiquot will also be required to pay $149,456.59 in restitution to the United States government.

According to court documents, Boursiquot a tax preparation company and prepared tax returns for Haitian immigrants. Boursiquot apparently forged his clients’ signatures on the tax returns and had the IRS mail him the refund checks directly. He then forged the clients’ endorsements on the checks and deposited the checks into his business account. He passed along some of the funds due back to his clients but kept a portion for himself. (more…)

A federal judge in Tampa sentenced Clearwater real estate agent Klara Horvath to 18 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit mortgage fraud. Horvath pleaded guilty in return for a prosecution agreement to recommend a lower sentence.

Horvath admitted to inflating her reported income on mortgage loan applications, which allowed her to borrow funds to purchase properties that she wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford.

In total, Horvath fraudulently obtained $770,000 in loans for several properties located in Clearwater Beach, Clearwater and Tampa. After she is released from prison, Horvath will serve three years probation and be required to repay the $770,000. (more…)