\nThe former chief financial officer for the Florida Development Corp.<\/a>, which runs the BizLinc small-business incubator in Lake Wales, was arrested last Friday on accusations of embezzling more than $250,000 from the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles Young Jr., 54, was arrested Friday at his Lithia home and faces one first-degree felony count of grand theft of more than $100,000 and one first-degree felony count of obtaining more than $50,000 in property through fraud. Young is being held in jail without bond for extradition to Polk County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We thank the professionals at the Lake Wales Police Department<\/a> for their thorough investigation into the actions of FDC’s former Chief Financial Officer Charles Young, Jr., leading to his arrest last Friday,” read a news statement from FDC. “We cannot say anything further at this time<\/strong><\/em> other than to note that we will continue to work with law enforcement to see that justice is done in this matter.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2023<\/strong><\/em>, officials with FDC reached out to Lake Wales Police Department to report suspected theft within the company about three months after terminating Young’s employment.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re going to come back to that date and that \u201cwe cannot say anything\u201d in a just a second. But let\u2019s pivot quickly to the Lake Wales News to understand who <\/strong><\/em>FDC actually is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nYoung is a partner, along with Derek Blue and Efrain Cornier, in Florida Development Corp. LLC, which has a $1.2 million no-recourse contract with the City of Lake Wales<\/a> for the operation of the business incubator at 225 Lincoln Avenue. The officers of that corporation then created BizLinc LLC, apparently to run the operation. As of Monday, the “about” page of the FDC website has been removed.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Derrick Blue [correct spelling appears to be Derrick] is both a partner in FDC, which runs the incubator on city money, and a pastor at Mayor Jack Hilligoss\u2019s High Point Church. Blue is part of the rogue church\u2019s \u201cteaching team.\u201d That\u2019s him on the left, next to Hilligoss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
November 2023 is a long time before February 2024. Who specifically went to LWPD?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Bottom line: Hilligoss, from his pulpit, made big news in February 2024 when denounced citizen critics of this incubator as \u201cwicked\u201d from his pulpit during church service. About the same time, Blue and other FDC supporters passionately and piously defended the incubator and attacked its critics at a Lake Wales City Commission meeting. They all had lots<\/strong><\/em> to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you can see how funny the \u201cwe cannot say anything\u201d hedge is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, somehow, all these folks managed not<\/strong><\/em> to say that someone<\/strong><\/em> with FDC itself<\/strong><\/em> had reported the incubator CFO three months earlier<\/strong><\/em> for stealing big money from the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So which \u201cFDC officials\u201d reported Young to Lake Wales Police? Was it High Point pastor Blue? Was it partner Efrain Cornier? Did Blue know about the allegation? Did he tell Hilligoss, his fellow \u201cteaching team\u201d member? Did Hilligoss know about these theft accusations when he decided to attack Lake Wales citizens from his pulpit? Is that taxpayer money just gone? Is FDC on the hook for repaying what its CFO is accused of stealing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t have the answers to these questions with precision; and I\u2019m not jumping into the Lake Wales beat. But if I was on that beat, I would try very hard to pin down, who, specifically, went to Lake Wales PD \u2014 and how widespread was that knowledge in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I would just who, exactly, is \u201cwicked?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, if you want some deeper background on this, here are the two articles I wrote about it in February. Somehow, this entire sorry parable seems vaguely Biblical in the comeuppance it\u2019s delivering<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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