The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) announced the arrest of 74-year-old Jerald Benjamin Clawson on one count each of organized scheme to defraud and the unlawful use of unregistered securities in a Ponzi-style scheme.
The FDLE said it began its investigation of Clawson in October 2023 it received Clawson was soliciting real estate investments through cash and bridge loans while promised investors a guaranteed return. However, the investors never saw a return because Clawson used his victims’ money for personal use.
The FDLE did not detail the depth of Clawson’s fraud, only stating that “several million dollars” were obtained during this scheme. The investigation into Clawson was conducted in a joint effort between FDLE, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. Clawson was taken into custody on Aug. 28 in Winter Park, Florida, and is now at the Orange County Jail.
This is not the first time that Clawson ran afoul of the law. In 2001, the Securities and Exchange Commission named Clawson as part of a fraud scheme involving the offer and sale of unregistered securities in the form of investment contracts in a scheme involving pay telephone leasebacks through Phoenix Telecom LLC. The scheme raised more than $74 million from more than 2,000 mostly elderly investors, and Clawson was ordered to pay disgorgement and other relief for his role in that fraud.
Photo courtesy of FDLE
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