Fake house flipper spends investor’s cash on Porsche, Rolex and gambling spree
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A former Florida real estate broker conned a retired schoolteacher out of $561,000 by telling her he’d invest her money on house-flipping and instead spent some of the money on luxury goods for himself and gambled away the rest.
A U.S. district court judge sentenced 38-year-old Aaron Eyerman this week to more than five years in federal prison for wire fraud, money laundering and false oath in relation to a bankruptcy proceeding.
Eyerman met the retired Pennsylvania teacher, who was not named in the case, while working in the real estate industry. In 2015, he convinced her to invest $300,000 in his venture to buy, rehabilitate and re-sell properties, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Instead, Eyerman took the money and gambled away “a large portion” and then spent the rest on luxury items including a custom Porsche 911, a $12,700 Rolex watch and a $50,000 down payment for his own waterfront home in Cape Coral, officials said.
Without telling the victim what he’d done, Eyerman went back to her asking for more money, lying about a new home-construction business, officials said. She gave him another $261,000.
Eyerman “immediately” began spending the money for personal use, losing most of it at the Seminole Casino in Immokalee, officials said.
The retired teacher later sued Eyerman looking to get her money back. Eyerman declared bankruptcy to avoid the debt and lied under oath about how he’d spent the money.
A jury found Eyerman guilty on 12 counts in June.
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