Dad, son who bribed Broward commissioners tried to extort money from developer, agents say
When a Miami developer acquired a piece of land after the owners failed to pay the loan, he was “harassed, threatened and extorted” by the original owners, Bruce and Shawn Chait, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
On Wednesday, the father and son duo — who more than a decade ago pleaded guilty to bribing a Broward commissioner in order get an approval for a development in Tamarac — were arrested along with two other men Wednesday.
The four men, Bruce Chait, 72, Shawn Chait, 47, Harris Shapiro, 38, and John Colonel, 33, are all facing charges including racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, organized scheme to defraud and multiple counts of extortion.
The Chaits, according to the probable cause affidavit, told Arnaud Karsenti, a managing principal of 13th Floor Investments, that they would claim the land is a “toxic landfill” if they didn’t get paid. The land consists of two old golf courses, which now has been developed into residential housing. The Chaits “filed lawsuits using straw plaintiffs as puppets of the Chaits,” FDLE said.
In 2009, the Chaits were arrested as part of a public corruption probe. The pair, investigators said at the time, lined the pockets of public leaders in order to get Prestige Homes of South Florida projects passed.
The Chaits were given four years probation in exchange for their testimony against politicians.
Broward commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, who passed away in 2018 from cancer, was sent to prison after saying he accepted a $3,200 golf club membership and $25,000 in cash from the Chaits.
Current charges
In 2010, Karsenti began negotiations with the Chaits for the Tamarac land, but it never went anywhere. Shortly after, the bank, which held the note on the property, contacted Karsenti to tell him that the Chaits had defaulted on the loan.
In September of 2010, Karsenti took over the loan and acquired the property. Karsenti continued negotiations with the Chaits over other properties. Karsenti ultimately bought the adjacent properties.
“Despite the successful negotiation by both parties, the Chaits harbored remaining ill will towards the victim due to their loss of the original property,” an FDLE agent wrote in the affidavit. “Over the course of the next several years, the victim has indicated that he has been continually harassed, threatened and extorted by the Chaits... The harassment is directly related to the Chait’s bitterness regarding the acquisition and success of the victim’s development.”
In one example, the agent said in 2012 the Chaits threatened to file a civil lawsuit claiming the land was “environmentally hazardous,” if they weren’t given $1 million. Karsenti agreed to pay $500,000 in installments for the threats to stop. Shortly after the last installment was paid in 2015, a lawsuit was filed by Shapiro, according to the affidavit.
Around the same time, the Chaits “engaged in a campaign of libelous letters to top city and county officials, alleging the victim’s development was a “toxic landfill,’” an agent wrote.
The threats continued, and at one point the Chaits agreed to drop Shapiro’s lawsuit in exchange for $8 million. Karsenti declined. The case was settled in favor of Karsenti.
In May 2019, Colonel filed a lawsuit alleging environmental contamination.
On Jan. 12, Karsenti, who had hired private investigators, met with Shawn Chait. This time, according to the agent, Chait said the lawsuit would go away for $3 million. The next meeting was recorded and monitored by the FDLE agent.
The threats escalated; and there were subsequent meetings that were monitored and recorded.
“In recordings, the Chaits admitted that they were behind the lawsuits and that the soil contamination claims were solely for the purpose of getting the victim to pay,” the FDLE said.
A Karsenti firm, 13th Floor Homes, issued a statement Thursday. “Once the perpetrators’ intentions became clear, our team took action by alerting the appropriate authorities and cooperating with an investigation led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Office of Statewide Prosecution. FDLE and the Office of Statewide Prosecution acted in a swift, thorough, and professional manner....13th Floor has spent the past 15 years cultivating a successful track record of development in South Florida, and we will fervently challenge any attempt to tarnish our credibility,” the statement said.
FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in a statement that the arrests were a culmination of “many hours of hard work by our agents and analysts on this case.”
“These criminals were on a path to destroy the victim’s reputation as well as his business by spreading lies about the land and the victim’s development.”
Miami Herald staff writer David J. Neal and Rob Wile contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 5:37 PM.
