Venice Jet Center seized as part of Nadel's fraud case
A federal judge Tuesday scooped up the Venice Jet Center and a company that owns five aircraft and some hangars at a Georgia airport, making them part of a fast-moving federal receivership of Arthur G. Nadel and his Sarasota based hedge fund operation, Scoop Management.
Judge Richard A. Lazzara signed the order after receiving a scathing 55-page initial report aimed at the expansion, filed by the court-appointed receiver in the case, Burton Wiand of Tampa.
Wiand has only been the job since Wednesday Jan. 21.
He has already figured out, enough to convince the judge, that not only were investors being defrauded of money as it came in the door but also that “money derived from the scheme was used directly by Nadel to purchase and/or fund other businesses, including Venice Jet Center LLC and Tradewind LLC.”
“Based on our investigation, it is likely that a significant sum of the proceeds of Nadel’s scheme made its way into other accounts controlled by Nadel and/or his wife, Marguerite Nadel,” Wiand reported to the court.
Arthur Nadel and his wife Marguerite Nadel, known as Peg Nadel, incorporated Venice Jet Center in April 2006 after purchasing the ongoing fixed-base operator at the municipally owned air field from its previous owner. They reportedly have spent a considerable amount renovating the business’ structures.
Even though Nadel’s wife - not named a defendant in the owns a 50 percent interest in the Venice Jet Center, stated Wiand in his filing, “the information we have gathered shows that the assets of VJC were purchased with proceeds of the scheme, and that over time additional proceeds of the scheme have been transferred to VJC.”
Like Venice Jet Port, the receiver stated in federal court documents, “My investigation has also revealed that Tradewind was funded with money from Nadel's scheme.”
Tradewinds, Wiand learned, owns and controls at least five aircraft and owns airport hangars at the Newnan-Coweta County Airport in Georgia.
Wiand’s 55-page supplemental filing with the Tampa federal court includes cancelled checks and other data that he used to reach his conclusions.