| South Florida Times |
| Eggelletion (top), Bruce Chait (middle), and son Shawn Chait at bottom. |
Put Prestige Homes owner Bruce Chait on the list as well. Chait, who was recently charged along with his son Shawn by the State Attorney's Office with bribery of former Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, is unloading land that was the subject of great controversy in Tamarac and is slated for hundreds of unbuilt homes. Also on the block ishis $3.85 million yacht, the Prestige, which comes complete five staterooms, a Bose stereo system, four flat-screen TVs, and a pop-up plasma television.
Chait is auctioning off 153 acres that were once the Sabal Palm and Monterrey golf courses and are currently planned as massive housing developments. The three plats have been approved for 728 single-family homes and townhouses. One of the parcels, Sable Palm North, has already been cleared and is ready for "vertical building" immediately, according to the brochure from Auction Company of America. Click here to see the illustrated brochure for the auction and here for more information on the boat.
The auction is set for noon on February 4 at the Sheraton on Griffin Road in Fort Lauderdale. All you need to bring is a $100,000 deposit for each parcel of land that you'd like to bid on and for the yacht. And the best news of all is that all the government approvals are in place, which means the buyer won't have spent large sums of cash bribing public officials or financing their campaigns. They've already been paid off!
Obviously this means that the giant and controversial housing project is in limbo. Hopefully it'll stay that way, as Chait's projects were heavily opposed by local residents because of their density and the traffic and other concerns they would bring.
Chait in part got around those pesky residents by allegedly paying off Eggelletion with $25,000, which included a cash-paid golf membership at Parkland Golf and Country Club. Both father and son were charged by the state with perjury, bribery, and unlawful compensation. Eggelletion was a strong supporter of the project.
Bruce Chait is also in the forefront of the
corruption investigation involving Broward County School Board Member Stephanie Kraft. Chait hired Kraft's husband, Mitch, to help him get a $500,000 break on a mitigation fee for the developments he's now selling at auction. Public records show that Stephanie Kraft used her pull as a School Board member to help the Chaits get the break.
On top of that, I recently broke the news that Bruce Chait also hired Stuart Michelson, Sunrise City Attorney and husband of Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, to represent him in code violations related to the developments. Lieberman had supported the controversial project with a vote two years before her husband was hired. Michelson told me his work wasn't related to the vote in any way and said he was paid just $3,000.
-- The following news release just came across the Pulp's transom, and I again encourage folks to do what they can for Haiti. Food for the Poor does good work, and you can click here or on the link below to help out with cash or actual food and supplies.
Hello Everyone,
I work at Florida Coastal Airlines and a main portion of our business is flying people and cargo in and out of Haiti. With the earthquake that just happened, we are making it a priority to help get relief supplies to Port Au Prince. We lost 3 Haitian employees in the earthquake and have many employees that have lost family. We also have many customers who have lost family, we are making it a priority to help aid reach those that are in need of it.
To achieve this, we are partnering with Food For The Poor,Inc. to help get all donations distributed. Food For The Poor has been distributing supplies to relief crews in Haiti for over 20 years, they make sure that all items get where they need to be. Once the items arrive at the airport in Port Au Prince their staff goes out into the field and distributes the items to the relief camps that are set up.
If you or any one you know want to help make a difference, please contact me. Florida Coastal has agreed to ship relief items for free as long as they are donated to Food For The Poor.
Here is a list of some items that are needed:
Pop can top foods(cans of vienna sausages, rice and beans, proteins-tuna,chicken,salmon,etc.) PLEASE make sure it has a pop top. Can openers are NOT available down there.
boxed milk
diapers
baby wipes
alcohol wipes
band-aids
gauze
neosporin
toothpaste and toiletries
blankets
water purification tablets
bottled water
Thank you and please contact me with any questions!
Emily A. HirschmanFlight Operations
Florida Coastal Airlines954-551-7225
