Why Didn’t Florida Man Learn His Lesson From Al Capone
DATELINE – Tampa FL
Leave it to Florida Man to not pay attention to a lesson he should have learned from Al Capone.
When the noted crime boss was finally nabbed by the feds, it was five counts of income tax evasion that finally did him in.
Well, Florida Man James John Melis, perhaps taking a page from the Capone handbook, was just sentenced to over four years in federal prison for his involvement in multiple fraud schemes.
One of the scenarios was centered around Melis’ time spent as a business manager at a private school in Hillsborough County where prosecutors said he fraudulently attached his personal bank account to an account belonging to the school.
According to the Justice Department, Melis transferred tuition payments to his own account and then used the money on personal travel and luxury items.
The second scheme involved mortgage origination fraud against a financial institution for two properties owned by Melis.
To deceive the lender into believing that he was a qualified borrower, Melis used someone else’s personal information on loan applications which included using fraudulent IRS income tax returns.
In addition to being guilty of bank fraud and wire fraud, Melis has also been ordered to pay nearly $700,000 in restitution.
He might need to come with another scam to raise that kind of money.
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