FDLE brings charges in $2.1 million motel-condo scheme
By ANDREW GANT [email protected]
A Tennessee man is in the Okaloosa County Jail for a racketeering scheme that involved more than 20 victims,
according to state police.
His bank accounts were in Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties.
Thomas Clayton Britton, 32, of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., was charged last week and is considered a flight risk,
according to his arrest report.
Investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement say he and another man, Derrell Chamblee,
bilked investors by selling shares in a fake Bay County condominium development plan. Both face felony
racketeering charges.
The men took a total of about $2.1 million from the investors police have interviewed so far.
They claimed they were going to demolish two existing motels and replace them with two condos Oceano
East and Oceano West as developers with Etowah Rail and Salvage Co. Llc. They claimed to own or have
rights to the property but didn't, according to the FDLE's report.
The investment money went toward personal use, and to maintain the resemblance required for the fraudulent
scheme to continue, agents wrote.
The FDLE's report contained no details on Chamblee's status.
Daily News Staff Writer Andrew Gant can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1432
0 comments