Florida marina owner faces 10 felony charges

[LuckyLady]

WOW



Marinas & Yards
Florida marina owner faces 10 felony charges

Boating Industry
Tuesday January 20, 2009


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POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – The owner of Hideaway Marina in Pompano Beach, Fla., faces 10 felony charges after authorities allege that he tricked people trying to buy or sell pricey speedboats and refused to return large deposits on some transactions that fell through, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported in a story yesterday.

The Broward Sheriff's Office has arrested Pierre Gaudreau, 39, owner of Hideaway Marina, twice since November, accusing him of grand theft, forgery and fraud, the newspaper reported.
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Among the allegations is that Gaudreau, acting as a broker, sold a Cigarette racing boat for almost $271,000, then lied about the sale in a court proceeding, saying the boat was still at Hideaway Marina. In the past year alone, eight civil lawsuits have also been filed against the dry storage marina or its subsidiaries, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Gaudreau, who is free on bond, will plead not guilty to all criminal charges, his attorney, Richard Rosenbaum, told the newspaper.

"All of these deals are done with written contracts, and these are not some naive individuals coming into boat transactions," Rosenbaum said.

Hideaway Marina has 15 employees and, in addition to the Pompano Beach location, the marina has a 20,000-square-foot warehouse in Oakland Park, Fla., to store boats on trailers.

[GALAZIO]

Interesting find Mary

This place is on federal not too far from our place down there. I know for the past year at least, this place looks to be shutdown, the old rack storage tore down and as of Xmas this year, what appears to be a new rack facility going in out back. Too bad someone that isn't so "slippery" couldn't own this place... it is a great location. Since the late '80's this place has seemed a little "shady"... took the small boat down to lauderdale in a facility there because of the "something not right" feeling this place had.

[LuckyLady]

I guess its a horrible thing to be cash poor in these times. I am sure there are other places facing the same charges now or in the future. People need to be very careful with anything these days. Escrow services are the best thing someone could do right now

Is that your puppy in your avatar?

Will you be at the Miami show again this year?