The Palm Beach Post
page2live

Ex-GOP moneyman and alleged war profiteer Harry Sargeant bankrolls son’s $1 million-wedding

Harry Sargeant III, middle, introduces then-Gov. Charlie Crist to King Abdullah of Jordan in 2007 (AP Photo)

Harry Sargeant III, middle, introduces then-Gov. Charlie Crist to King Abdullah of Jordan in 2007 (AP Photo)

Gulf Stream oilman Harry Sargeant III, who’s been called a war profiteer by a Congressional leader, is putting to good use the $200 million-plus that Pentagon officials now say they overpaid him during the Iraq War.

Sargeant, a former finance chairman for the Republican Party of Florida and a college friend of ex-Guv Charlie Crist, is throwing lavish parties in Palm Beach this weekend to celebrate the wedding of his son, 27-year-old Harry.

The younger Harry is marrying Port St. Lucie hottie Morgan Elam Saturday at The Breakers.

I’m told the elder Sargeant reserved about 60 rooms for friends and family through the weekend. In season, most rooms at the resort go for $400-plus.

With the $300-a-bottle banquet, weekend activities for all the guests and not just one, but two rehearsal dinners tonight, word is the elder Sargeant could spend upward of $1 million.

“We’re having about 280 guest at the wedding,” said the bride, 28, when reached at The Breakers today. She’s the daughter of Fort Pierce CPA James H. Elam.

“I’m wearing a Vera Wang dress. Everybody’s going to be in black and white. There’s a five-course meal after the ceremony.”

For more, look below or click (Read more…)

GOP, Gov. Charlie Crist moneyman Harry Sargeant faces foreclosure

Sargeant, middle, introduces Gov. Charlie Crist to King Abdullah of Jordan in 2007 (AP Photo)

Sargeant, middle, introduces Gov. Charlie Crist to King Abdullah of Jordan in 2007 (AP Photo)

The GOP had better hope its longtime money man, Gulf Stream businessman Harry Sargeant, took care of the party’s finances better than he’s taking care of his own.

The shadowy Sargeant, a fraternity brother of Gov. Charlie Crist at FSU and a former finance chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, has been sued by a Boynton Beach builder.

Sargeant, who’s generous when it comes to funding GOP politics, is $500,000 behind in his payments for the construction of a $1.5 million-addition to his beachfront home, according to county records.

General contractor Curtis D. Meade is asking a Palm Beach County circuit court to foreclose on Sargeant’s, $7.2 million, 17,921-square-foot house.

Work on the half-finished construction stopped last month when it became apparent Sargeant quit paying, according to the breach of contract and unjust enrichment lawsuit. Sargeant signed the original contract with Meade in June 2009. In all, according to records, Sargeant, an energy and shipping tycoon who once had a $1 billion contract with the Pentagon, has collected seven liens from subcontractors on the job, in addition to Meade’s.

Neither Meade nor his lawyer returned calls. A Sargeant employee at his home promised to reach out to him and have him call me with a statement, but I’m still waiting.

Like disgraced lawyer and jailed Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, now rotting in a federal penitentiary, Sargeant has been a problem friend and fund-raiser for Crist, who’s running for the U.S. Senate.

Sargeant is widely believed to have been the sugar daddy who’d send $10,000 checks to former state Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer at a time when Greer had personal financial trouble. Greer is facing fraud and money-laundering charges for allegedly skimming $125,000 from the party’s coffers.

What’s more, Sargeant came under scrutiny during the 2008 presidential campaign, after he had raised more than $500,000 in contributions for commander-in-chief wannabe John McCain.

Many of the contributions, some as high as $4,600, supposedly came from middle to low-income families in California. Crist’s campaign has yet to comment about Sargeant’s strange habits when it comes to paying contractors.

In 2003, six local contractors filed liens against Sargeant in connection with other home improvements.

Oh no, he didn’t!!!!!

hairybackYou nasty thing, Charlie Crist!

The guv went on Greta Van Susteren’s On The Record on Fox News Monday night wondering if his opponent for the U.S. Senate, Marco Rubio, used the Republican party’s credit card to get his back waxed.

Yikes!

Crist is behind in the polls, but still!

Crist matter-of-factly threw that line at Greta while the two discussed the recent revelations that Rubio had used a party card for personal expenses. Check out the exchange, and vote in the poll below.

Is a man's hairy back fair game in a political campaign?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

Let’s get drunk: Roy Black, polo boss John Goodman’s lawyer, hosts yearly shindig

International Polo Club Palm Beach founder John Goodman, whose alleged killing of a 23-year-old man in a car crash last month is still under investigation, was nowhere to be found among those who paid homage to high-profile South Florida attorney Roy Black.

Funny thing, because when it comes to celebrities attending The Blacks’ Annual Gala in Miami Beach Saturday night, Black and his wife Lea can always count on those he extracted from the criminal justice system. And yes, there may be some of future clients of Black’s there, too.

Girls Gone Wild’s Joe Francis was one of them. He once had tax and public morals problems, but Black made it all better. So he came to the Fontainebleau Miami Beach for the big party.

“He wins every case,” Francis said. “His approach is different from other lawyers, partly because he never worked for the government as a prosecutor. He believes in your case 100 percent, and I don’t know any other who does that.”

Roy Black kicks off his yearly gala: "If you don't get drunk, . . . then this party has failed!" (Click on the photo for more Mike Jachles images of the party)

Roy Black kicks off his yearly gala: "If you don't get drunk, . . . then this party has failed!" (Click on the photo for more Mike Jachles images of the party)

Three-time Indianapolis and Dancing With The Stars winner Helio Castroneves showed up. Black got him out of his little tax evasion issue last year.

Yet John Goodman, who could soon be facing DUI and manslaughter accusations but hasn’t been charged, was MIA.

And who could blame him?

Roy Black, after all, kicked off the open bar, three-course fiesta with this announcement to the 1,000-plus guests who’d paid up to $1,000 each: “If you guys don’t get drunk and dance on the tables, then this party has failed!”

For more, look below, or click (Read more…)

Labarga DUI: “We’re not surprised,” says lawyer

Posted by Jose Lambiet | Breaking News, Politicos, Wellington |
Tags: , , , , ,
| Friday 26 February 2010 4:50 pm Print This Post
Stephanie Labarga's booking mug after her DUI arrest Monday (Courtesy PBSO)

Stephanie Labarga's booking mug after her DUI arrest Monday (Courtesy PBSO)

A Palm Beach Gardens couple and their lawyer weren’t shocked when the 23-year-old daughter of rookie Florida Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga was picked up for DUI earlier this week.

That’s because the couple, Valmir and Irma Santos, were sleeping soundly at dawn one morning in November when they heard a huge crash.

Stephanie Labarga, Jorge’s daughter, had driven her car into the Santos’ modest, 1,200-square-foot home.

“It was at, like, at 5 a.m.,” said Stuart Goldenberg, the Santos’ lawyer. The couple is suing Stephanie Labarga because their insurance company hasn’t been able to reach a settlement with Stephanie’s. “She drove into their living room through the wall. Who does that?”

No one was injured, Goldenberg said, but the damages amounted to more than $20,000.

Labarga, according to court records, was cited for reckless driving. She paid a $166-fine and was ordered to take a safe driving class — which she completed Feb. 5.

For more, look below or click (Read more…)

Next Page »