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Cabrera indicted on 12 counts of fraud, money laundering

Lee County manager also facing questions since his initials showed up in indictment

— A transfer of $100,000 from a company account to a Las Vegas casino. Transfers of several hundred thousand dollars to a personal account. Two other payments to someone with the same initials as his father-in-law, the Lee County manager who has come under investigation.

Those were among the new allegations facing indicted Fort Myers real estate agent Samir Cabrera, as federal prosecutors added eight new criminal charges to the four Cabrera has been facing since June.

New details about Cabrera’s failed land deals and alleged expenditures out of investors’ accounts emerged Wednesday, as the indictment facing Cabrera was revised to include seven counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.

The initial indictment had focused on an alleged scheme to defraud investors in two commercial real estate deals Cabrera put together along Fiddlesticks Boulevard in south Fort Myers in early 2006.

Federal prosecutors allege he profited from undisclosed property flips, buying the property through one company he controlled and selling the land again the same day at a higher price to his pool of investors — all without telling them. He would have profited by taking the proceeds of the second sale and splitting it as “kicker fee” payouts to himself and his associates.

Altogether, the indictment described about $2.8 million in potential kicker fees, much of which was paid out of the project accounts. The indictment also alleges Cabrera embezzled a smaller amount — $20,100 — from one of the two projects.

The new charges describe a total of more than $700,000 being moved around the country as part of the alleged scheme to defraud.

One new charge of money laundering describes the transfer of $100,000 from Cabrera’s management company, Cabrera Capital, to Wynn Las Vegas, a resort and casino, in April 2006.

Several of Cabrera’s investors — including Fort Myers resident Thomas Messina — have said that Cabrera’s business partners told them about a trip to Las Vegas, and that they were told the expense came out of investors’ money.

Other new charges now facing Cabrera describe money being transferred into joint accounts of Cabrera and his wife, NBC-2 news anchor Jessica Stilwell.

One transfer described in the indictment is from the bank account of Cabrera Capital, to a joint account with his wife. That transfer, allegedly money laundering, is for $311,441.02.

Cabrera’s attorney, John Mills, has said several times before that no money was misappropriated in the Fiddlesticks deals, and he has blamed the failure of the projects on a downward turn in the Southwest Florida real estate market.

Other new charges describe transfers to “D.D.S.,” including one check for $76,731.24 and another for $50,000 written in May and June 2006, respectively. Cabrera’s father-in-law, Lee County Manager Don Stilwell, has the middle name initial of “D,” according to public records.

Stilwell directly invested money into Cabrera’s real estate deal at 13701 Fiddlesticks Blvd. The county is currently investigating Stilwell as to his financial investment in a nearby project run by Cabrera called Daniels View, which would have benefited from the extension of a county road through it.

Managing Assistant United States Attorney Doug Molloy, based out of Fort Myers, said an unindicted person identified in an indictment is identified only by initials.

“It doesn’t mean they will be indicted,” he said. “It doesn’t mean they won’t be indicted.”

Commissioner Brian Bigelow, who has tried repeatedly to fire the county manager, wants to know if D.D.S. is Stilwell.

“Certainly I want to ask him,” he said. “Certainly it raises the level of concern I had since day 1, when I heard he had a second mortgage.”

Stilwell did loan Cabrera money through a second mortgage on one of the investment properties, but that was in 2007.

“He was helping his son-in-law speculate on a land deal that stood in the way of a county road project, a deal that depended heavily on the county road project,” Bigelow said. “The U.S. attorney’s looking at it. It’s the possible initials of the county manager. Yes, I’m concerned about it.”

Commissioner Tammy Hall said she’s concerned, too.

“Of course that concerns me, because I don’t know what it means and what it doesn’t mean,” she said.

Hall said she knew Stilwell had loaned his son-in-law money, and wondered if the checks were repayment.

“Could you assume it’s Don? Yes, you can, because those are his initials,” she said.

Hall admitted being frustrated because the U.S. attorney won’t even say if Stilwell is under investigation. She said if Cabrera did get the money illegally, it could well be Stilwell didn’t know it.

“I’m in business with my brother,” she said. “Do I have to ask every time he writes me a check?”

Commissioner Bob Janes said he wants to wait for the county-ordered investigation.

“I don’t know anything about that. How would I know?” he asked. “Only when the investigator completed his report.”

Stilwell couldn’t be reached for comment after the indictment was released. He said earlier Wednesday there’s no reason for him to be indicted.

“I can’t imagine why they would or what someone could indict me for,” he said.

Molloy did say that the investigation continues.

“We’re just getting started,” he said. “We’re not done.”

When Cabrera’s indictment was announced in June, it was described as part of a nationwide crackdown on real estate fraud — an effort named Operation Malicious Mortgage — though the alleged scheme to defraud investors made no mention of lending practices.

What is new in the revised indictment is the focus on the role Cabrera’s former employer, the late Frank D’Alessandro, and his lending company would have played in the Fiddlesticks deals.

The indictment notes that all the loans of the two properties went through D’Alessandro’s lending company, which later foreclosed on the properties. In addition to charging close to 12 percent interest, that lending company made money on loan origination fees. The revised indictment describes those foreclosures as part of the scheme to defraud investors.

The indictment also notes that at the time these deals were being assembled, Cabrera worked for D’Alessandro as a transaction specialist at the prominent commercial real estate brokerage D’Alessandro & Woodyard. The company received commissions totaling $276,600 on the properties.

D’Alessandro died in a kayaking accident off the coast of New Jersey in September 2007.

Not named in the indictment are any of Cabrera’s business partners.

Cabrera is the only person facing criminal charges in connection with the Fiddlesticks Boulevard land deals, but financial records from his projects show he was not the only one to profit from them.

His former partners in the development company CC Turner, Todd Turner and Ian Schmoyer, received similar payments to those Cabrera received out of the Fiddlesticks accounts, according to project accounting records. Those payments match exactly with payments that federal prosecutors allege were “kicker fees” in Cabrera’s case.

Also not mentioned in the expanded indictment are any of the other land deals Cabrera was managing at the time he was running the Fiddlesticks deals, though many of those other commercial real estate projects have also led to large losses for investors.

Altogether, Cabrera raised at least $11 million from investors in late 2005 and 2006.

Investors were told their money would help Cabrera’s management company and affiliated development company buy land and turn the vacant properties into strip malls, homes and office parks.

That never happened in any of Cabrera’s deals, and almost all of the investors’ money was gone by mid-2007.

Comments

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This gentleman is just 1 of 1000s in SW Fla that stole the money in one form or another, homeowners, mortgage people, bankers, attys, contractors, politicians, trust types, realtors, SS# sellers..just look at the defendants in the foreclosures in Lee/Collier..so we have 2 more years of this to burn out the negativity before there is any new money...Sep 30 is D day, Fannie Mae & Freddie got to rollover 1/4 trillion $ in refi or they are dead too....basically if you cant get residual biz, you are out of here..

#1 Posted by Trexler on August 27, 2008 at 4:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Put him away..... he knew what he was doing therefore it is time to pay the piper! Probably was fun while it lasted!

#2 Posted by theabyss on August 27, 2008 at 5:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

casino account?
Hard to call that a "mistake"

#3 Posted by Naplestango on August 27, 2008 at 5:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Jessica may turn out to be the GOVERNMENTS "best" witness.

Cut bait and now look out to save the dignity of her children....

#4 Posted by MFH on August 27, 2008 at 5:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

lol tookie, he definitely would have a chance in naples for sheriff

#5 Posted by grouper25 on August 27, 2008 at 7:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Wow Tookie, what's a republican race? I mean I took biology, but, of the races and their anthropological heritage, I never came across the "republican race".
You must be enlightened.
As far as the allegations, this young man is probably finished.

#6 Posted by almasonlybar on August 27, 2008 at 7:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)

It's amazing the crazy things a bad coke habit will make you do. Hey Jessica, do you know how much $$$$ the soon to be ex husband used to throw away at Club Escapades? All the workin girls do

#7 Posted by wiggins on August 27, 2008 at 9:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

FEDS:
Sounds like the M. GOLDBERG situation in the late 1990's, money, land deals and vegas...........

EGLIN is only a year away.........

#8 Posted by MFH on August 27, 2008 at 10:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

FIELD DAY:
Lee Melsek is no longer writing for the News-Press, thank goodness Charlie WHITEHEAD is covering this for the NDN and SW Florida. The NDN could not have a better investigative reporter for this story..............

#9 Posted by MFH on August 27, 2008 at 10:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)

A racist black man?? hmmmm, I don't believe I've ever met one. I don't think they exist!!
:)

excellent post Tookie

#10 Posted by ZoeMarley on August 27, 2008 at 11:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Still no interview with Jessica Stilwell?

Good for her. A good wife quietly backs up her man.

#11 Posted by volochine on August 28, 2008 at 1:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I wonder when his ex-partners Todd and Ian will be indited? Maybe it will all come out in Samir's trial. They all are crooks

#12 Posted by Spyglass on August 28, 2008 at 6:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)

He can switch to the new law firm of Shoap, Rosado, & Feichthaler, " All for us and us for all"!!!!!!!!!!! Good riddens.

#13 Posted by johnnyd097 on August 28, 2008 at 6:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

When we smell smoke, don't we generally assume fire lurks beneath?

A year or so ago, didn't some mean-spirited, cynical, intolerant and utterly prescient posters see the kayaking accident involving the employer of the above individual as no accident at all? Didn't they see what lay beneath the glossy veneer of a tedious bunch of 90s success stories?

Time seems to have proven them right, hasn't it? Doesn't it always? What's the old maxim, 'dig down six feet, find two stiffs, dig down nine, you find thirty?

Why do those who trust in the deceptive power of riches believe treacherous connections will protect both them and their ill gotten gains? Don't they realize in the end, greed and overstatement is their downfall?

Paul Vincent Zecchino
Manasota Key, Florida
28 August, 2008

"As long as that son of yours is with
you, you're not welcome in our home."
- Dorothy Lavelle Adams

"Hey, Vinzen (sic), you gotta any mo'
stock you can give us?"
- Emilia 'Emily' Zecchino
2003, transcripted conversation

#14 Posted by paul_vincent_zecchino on August 28, 2008 at 9:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Saw Jessica anchoring the other morning, looks like she used some of the money for surgery on her face????

#15 Posted by seabreeze20 on August 28, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You people are so stupid! Don't you people have anything better to do than talk about people you don't know!

#16 Posted by circlesister on August 28, 2008 at 1:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Ryu I'm calling you out as the former CTI. Are you close to awarding yourself a gold medal and declaring yourself the winner so we can get this nonsense over with?

NDN are you that blind to the facts that this man has several aliases and all with the same narrow minded racist blather.

Hello is anybody manning the controls. Just exactly who's running this circus of a blog at NDN?

It's time to grow up people and get out of the gutter with the irrelevant and childish commentary.

#17 Posted by levelheaded on August 28, 2008 at 1:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey T. Gates,are you not from West Virginia, better paddle faster the banjo music is getting louder thanks to Samir one of your agents at the company GDW you bankrupted-good job as entrepenuer of the year whose pockets did you pad for that, the Soaring Eagles or have you bankrupted that organization-what a joke!

#18 Posted by TriGuy on August 28, 2008 at 5:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)



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