Prosecutors have dropped charges against two Central Florida businessmen who were accused in 2015 of aiding a racketeering fraud at Simon Property Group.
Dale Takio of Clermont and Tim Herman of Maitland were charged with racketeering two years ago, along with six other Orlando-area residents. But the statewide prosecutor’s office in Orlando recently decided to drop the charges against them.
According to the allegations in the criminal cases, the theft ring skimmed $4 million from the company by having Clermont resident Lynette Lauria, a Simon executive, approve payments to more than a dozen fake companies.
According to court records, charges are still pending against Lauria, two of her family members and three friends. The other defendants are Robert Lauria, Rachael Lauria, Sarah Lagi, Susan Ortega and Ryan Deming. Those six have pleaded not guilty.
The announcement of the arrests in 2015 was followed by two unusual events. Prosecutors originally said $20 million had been skimmed from Simon, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement quickly revised that to $4 million, blaming a spreadsheet calculation error.
Two days after announcing the charges, prosecutors also learned their lead witness was found dead in Connecticut. Thomas Brignolo, 32, was named in a federal lawsuit four years ago as the whistleblower who alerted Simon officials to the thefts. He had been scheduled to testify in the FDLE’s case.
According to the lawsuit, the five-year string of thefts that started in 2006 had gone undetected until Brignolo, who once worked for two of the suspects, emailed Simon officials alerting them to what was happening.
Takio and Herman had argued in court that they had nothing to do with the fraud, and they also filed motions with the court saying Lauria herself told prosecutors of their innocence.
In an interview, Takio said he’s been battling the accusations for years, first in the civil lawsuit filed by Simon, which the company voluntarily withdrew. He works in restaurant marketing for his own company called Taktik Enterprises and has developed campaigns such as a discount card, called the Kids Eat Free Card.
Takio said that he was arrested at his house at dawn in May 2015, in his pajamas, by numerous officers in tactical gear, bearing assault-style weapons.
“I had to put my life on hold,” Takio said. “We were wiped out financially in the civil lawsuit. We started rebuilding, and then we had the criminal charges.
Takio and Herman were represented by Orlando attorney Craig Brand. Brand said he intends to file suit on behalf of Takio and Herman soon: “… We have over six years of research, discovery, and allegations of our own to go after Simon with.”
Herman previously filed for bankruptcy, which he blamed partly on the financial strain of the litigation.
A spokesman for Simon said the company declined to comment for this story.
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8 Central Florida residents, including a former Simon Property Group employee, are accused of stealing $20 million from the international real estate company over a five-year period
8 Central Florida residents, including a former Simon Property Group employee, are accused of stealing $20 million from the international real estate company over a five-year period
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