Posted: April 2, 2010 - 12:08am
By PETER GUINTA
Kevin and Lisa Crowell of St. Augustine Beach are closely watching the progress of an FBI investigation into the multi-state financial dealings of Lydia Cladek Inc., whose local offices were housed in a large suite in Sea Grove on State Road A1A.
"I'm really amazed that no one's killed her," Kevin Crowell said.
Investors told the FBI that Cladek disappeared with perhaps as much as $200 million of their money.
According to some of the 1,300 investors, Cladek was charming, low pressure and knew everyone in the area. And she promised returns of 15 to 20 percent.
Lisa Crowell said she and her husband had been seeking a more aggressive investment than a CD or money market fund.
"We gained insight into her company by asking around town and learning that there were many investors, and none of them had a bad word to say about her," she said. "In fact, it seemed too good to be true, but everyone was willing to ride it out until the bottom fell out because it was just that good."
Crowell, a St. Augustine native, is a decorated non-commissioned officer with nearly 20 years with Florida Army National Guard, having served many deployments around the globe and in Iraq.
His wife is a 1999 Flagler College graduate who works for a respected family-owned business,
In September 2007, they invested a certain amount for a year. The 15 percent arrived monthly, so they invested more.
"We felt like it was stable. How can all these people be wrong?" Kevin Crowell said. "It definitely hooked us. It seemed unbelievable."
However, in September, after more than two years of clockwork returns, their check was late. When the company failed to send anything at all in December, they called again.
This time the check never came.
The Crowells asked for their money back, but the company then stopped returning his phone calls.
Crowell said Cladek had two homes, one a 5,600-square-foot house in Sea Colony. Both were already in foreclosure.
"I went (to her office) looking for Lydia," he said Thursday. "She knew she was a sinking ship. A couple of big fellows came into the office with us but backed off.
"I called her a bad person and said if I didn't get my money I'd let everyone know (of the scam). But she was taking investments right up to the last moment.
"I asked her, 'If you know you're going down, why take others with you?' I didn't get my money."
He said he left after the confrontation. Later, two FBI agents came to his house to discuss the case.
He and his wife will bounce back, he said.
"We were fortunate. We did not put (all our assets) in," he said. "But many people had all their eggs in one basket.
"I don't know what they're going to do. Some are older or in a position where they can't bounce back."
Crowell is especially grateful for one thing. His brother sold a house, and Crowell told him he'd be crazy not to invest in Lydia Cladek Inc.
"He never took advantage of it, and now I'm glad he didn't. I would have felt horrible," he said. "Lisa and I will just have to be more frugal."
Lisa Crowell said St. Johns County doesn't realize how much money was taken by Cladek.
"The owner of the company will eventually leave town and start from scratch in another community with new investors being told she will make them money," she said.
Kevin Crowell said they will make it financially, but that doesn't mean he didn't escape unscathed.
"This has mentally devastated me," he said, "It's driving me nuts because I can't get the money back. It's just gone."
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