The Carlisle Development Group, one of the largest real estate developers of affordable housing in South Florida, has made a name for itself in the low income housing development niche. One of its flagship projects includes the construction of a tower in Overtown that provides computer laboratory services and after school care for children.
Now, in a report from miamiherald.com, the leaders of the company namely Matthew Greer and Lloyd Boggio had allegedly siphoned off tens of millions of dollars in US government funds for the projects they built. They inflated construction costs and received kickbacks from their contractors according to a criminal complaint filed with the Miami federal court.
Included in the allegations was the creation of shell companies, named as Marquesas Capital and Caesar and Cleopatra Investments to receive and launder the illegal payoffs received and the diverted government funds.
All in all, the two together with four other named defendants were accused of stealing $36 million worth of US tax credits from funding received for the fourteen government funded projects constructed in the Miami-Dade County area.
The four other co-accused are Michael Runyan, CEO of BJ&K Construction, Gonzalo DeRamon and Michael Cox of Biscayne Housing Group and Rene Sierra of Siltek Affordable Housing LLC. According to a report on fbi.gov, Greer, Boggio and DeRamon face two counts of consipiracy to commit theft of government money and property while Runyan, Cox and Sierra are charged with one count of the same offense.
For the violation criminal law, each count carries with it a penalty of five years in prison maximum.
During the course of the federal investigation, seizure warrants were used and nearly $10.8 million in allegedly government funds were recovered.
In a statement from US Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer, "(M)otivated by personal greed, the defendants are charged with stealing tens of millions of dollars of federal funds intended for the construction of housing for the poor, the homeless, and the elderly of South Florida. Our office will vigorously pursue those who line their pockets with federal resources that are intended to benefit vulnerable individuals and families."