Man got $271,000 in disability while repairing and flipping homes in Florida, feds say
A man collected thousands in disability checks without mentioning he held five real estate broker’s licenses in Florida and made money repairing and flipping houses, according to federal prosecutors.
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board started paying the man, a former railroad worker, after he claimed he couldn’t work since 1995 due to a physical disability, according to court documents.
The Sarasota resident qualified for a “total and permanent disability annuity” in December 1995, then went on to work “in multiple capacities,” prosecutors said.
He’s accused of stealing $271,124 in disability payments he wasn’t entitled to over the span of several years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Now, the 68-year-old real estate broker has pleaded guilty in Tampa federal court to theft of government funds, the U.S. attorney’s office announced in an April 29 news release.
The man’s defense attorney, Mark P. Rankin, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on April 29.
Despite receiving yearly notices that reminded the man to report any work, he didn’t do so, according to prosecutors.
While receiving disability checks, the man was the registered agent or officer of at least 22 businesses, worked as a community association manager for several condo associations and did business in real estate, according to his plea agreement.
Prosecutors said he had five real estate broker’s licenses at the same time — all of which are active as of April 29, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation records show.
He “was also buying and renovating properties for profit, which he did not report,” prosecutors said.
On the man’s LinkedIn account, he lists himself as a broker for White Sands Realty Group since 2009.
According to his plea agreement, he earned $344,000 from White Sands Realty Group from 2012 to 2019, and also earned $300,000 from his other businesses during the same time.
When the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board directly asked him about whether he was working, he “provided false, incomplete, and misleading answers,” prosecutors said.
The man is facing up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. His sentencing hearing hasn’t been scheduled.
On April 29, the government filed a motion for an order of forfeiture that seeks to recover the total amount of stolen disability benefits.
The man agreed that the government is “entitled” to forfeit his property since he no longer has the $271,124 he wrongly collected from the Railroad Retirement Board, the motion shows.
McClatchy News contacted the Railroad Retirement Board for comment on April 29 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
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