You can find some past clips of mine on the Naples Daily News website at www.naplesnews.com. However a large body of my work is no longer available there, including stories related to Stadium Naples or the A.S. Goldmen & Co. stock fraud case, because the newspaper disabled access to its online archive for stories pre-2003. You can find past stories at Newsbank. This story is reproduced here with permission from the Naples Daily News.
A number of stories related to Stadium Naples, the A.S. Goldmen & Co. securities fraud case, and the Maricopa / David Mobley Ponzi Scheme are listed here, but many of the links are broken.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Waterford Files
By Gina Edwards
A Trail of Intrigue
Chapter One: Jack Pentz and Lauri Smith met at the close of the 1980s. Both waiters at the Vineyards Country Club, they had bigger plans and raw ambition. The mortgage business was their answer. In 1991, they founded Waterford Mortgage Bank Corp. Two years later they found an angel -- Ron Brown, a retired Naples multimillionaire who saw in Jack and Lauri the fierce work ethic he had himself as a younger man. But Brown's misplaced trust would cost him $14 million. Accountants, lawyers and federal agents on the hunt for Brown's money would question if Waterford had cost Lauri her life.
A Suspicious Death
Chapter Two: Face down on a hotel bed in San Diego, Lauri Smith had a stomach full of cocaine -- a lethal dose that killed her. It looked like suicide. But she had hair-pulling injuries and lots of bruises on her body. Lauri's death launched a struggle for control of Waterford between her longtime partner, Jack Pentz, and Lauri's family. Jack won. Secretly, Jack diverted nearly $7 million out of Waterford 's bank accounts in the months after Lauri's death, leaving IOUs to replace the cash. Most of the money bounced offshore to junk bond investments in the Channel Islands, a banking secrecy haven. Later, Brown would realize it was his money.
A Search for Answers
Chapter Three: By late 1999, Jack Pentz had embarked on a full-throttle spending spree on the Waterford corporate credit card. There were junkets to Hollywood, a vacation in Canada, even a diamond engagement ring. Ron Brown's money paid the bills, his lawyers say. But Brown got wise. In April 2000 he realized the $14 million worth of mortgage notes he held as collateral for his loan to Waterford were nothing but bogus forgeries. His money was gone. For two years, accountants, lawyers and federal agents have worked to untangle the Waterford knot. They're not done. Jack says it was Lauri who stole Brown's money; Lauri isn't here to defend herself.
Waterford Charts & Pictures
Fast Bucks: Real Estate Flipping in Southwest Florida
By Gina Edwards, July 10, 2005
In Naples, stories about flipping real estate are better than fish tales. Lately, it seems everybody has one.
-- A Pittsburgh speculator bought the house at 475 Galleon Drive in Naples' swank Port Royal neighborhood and sold it six weeks later for a $700,000 mark-up.
-- A Bonita Springs widow, who runs a corporation called Sunny Florida Investments Inc. from her condo, bought a lot at 4370 34th Ave. S.E. in eastern Golden Gate Estates for $9,900. She sold it the same day for $37,400.
-- A Naples couple bought a home in the middle-class Saturnia Lakes neighborhood preconstruction at 1929 Isla de Palma Circle and sold it the same day they closed on it for $207,000 more than they paid.
Stories such as these -- the buzz at bars and watercoolers and Little League games -- are prompting regular folk to troll for the next big real estate catch.
As economists and pundits around the country warn of a frothy and irrationally exuberant real estate market -- and increasingly mention Naples' land speculation by name -- people are wondering if the good times can last. Will a bubble burst here? Read More.
