~CBS NEWS Number II 524 West 57Thstreet,Newyork,N.Y.10019
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.. .. Volume XXVI ~CBS NEWS Number II 524 West 57thStreet,NewYork,N.Y.10019 ~'.; ;~:; ,.. ~·t • , ~ ~ ~ ! November 28, 1993 ~ z ~ g CMCMXCIII CBS Inc. !,I) i ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ~ ~ This Irall,,;npl Illa\' IlOl he reproJu.eJ ill whole nr in pan wllholll pemlis""n. O~ Yi ;.. :::J 1'1 an,,' rrl'l pr"JlI~~.t tl) RIIHHIIII '.\' /.vl (iH,W ill( 1'1 SI HI'It'! S LO~ ~il~ II". 7 • LIVi"~I'I"", New Jel\cy 0711lt) •., 'ill .~ ~) provide information to the DEA, And I think we try to take care of people thcm shortly, or arc after Ihem. and we've heard about Florida. Is it really that do heIp us, (rue"! (Footage of the Dariases) (Footage of Stahl (lnd Tmelbllum) -:t " . URADLEY: (Voiceover) But Darias says the DEA hasn't taken care of .. Lr STAHL: (Voiceol'er) Chuck Tatdbaum is taking all those calls in his law ~ him. Since 1984, he has been supported by his wife--she works--and help office in Clearwater. ::~.~~ ..<::; from her family. He's worked only occasionally, and still lives in seclusion Mr. T ATELBAUM: And then, when I tell them thaI it is really true, they ;,.i<! in Florida. all want to run down here and take up residence. "If:; Robert, you feci that the government let you down? STAHL: You get to keep everything? Mr. I>AIUAS: Yes. I would like thcm to--to pay what they owe me. But Mr. TATELBAUM: Not everything. But if you do plan the righl way, """: even if I--they don't, I don't want them to do the same thing they did to me you can keep virtually everything. to anybody else. (Footage of a United States Bankruptcy Coun) URADLEY: Amelia, what do you want now from the government? STAHL: (Voiceover) He's right. Of all 50 stales, Florida has the most Mrs. DARIAS: I want to be forgotten. All it has brought me is pain and generous exemptions. In other words, the longest list of what a debtor, no misery. I don't want them to even remember me, that I ever existed. matter how much he owes, is able to keep. URADLEY: And that's the opposite of what you want. Mr. TATELBAUM: If you have an IRA or pension benefits, they're 11. :; Mr. DARIAS: I want them to remember me forever, really. And I'm totally protected. Life insurance value is protected. going to make sure that they rememher me for a long time. STAHL: Really? My ... '\ HRAI)LEY: Darias has refused the DEA's offer to go in the Witness Mr. TATELBAUM: Annu ... " Protection Program, and he plans to sue for the money he says they owe STAHL: It doesn't matter how big the insurance policy is? him. As for Marlene Navarro, after almost eight years in prison, she was Mr. TATELBAUM: No, not at all. Annuities are protected. Say you've granted a new trial because of administrative errors in the court taken all your cash and put it into annuities, that's protected. transcription, but Darias says he won't testify against her unless he's (Footage of large houses) subpoenaed, and that's not likely to happen since tbe federal prosecutors ~T AHL: (Voiceover) And the biggest protection of all in Florida, the have now agreed to a pica bargain with Navarro that could see her out of mother of all exemptions, is the law that lets debtors keep their houses--and prison next year. not just run-of-the-mill houses. Gary Froid went bankrupt in 1987, and yet, (Announcements) look where he lives. He still owns this upscale Spanish-style house on exclusive waterfront property. Donald Clause, the man who owns this BANKRUPT IN FLORIDA house on the golf course in Fort Myers. went bankrupt, too. And so did Marvin Warner, who lives on this thoroughbred horse farm in Ocala. LESLEY STAHL: If you're going to go bankrupt, and you don't want to Mr. TATELBAUM: (Voiceover) Your house in Florida would be exempt leave the United States, there's really only one place to go: Florida. if it's within a certain acreage, no matter what its value. (Footage of people playing golf. tennis. on the beach; pages being stamped) STAHL: Well, up to how much? How many acres? If STAHL: (VoicccH'er) People come here to play golf, people come here to Mr. TATELHAUM: Well, if it's in the city, only half an acre. But if it's play tennis and people come here to go broke. Florida's hankruptcy courts out in the country, it's up to 160 acres. arc overflowing with cases. Rich people, particularly, know they can keep STAHL: You're kidding. a whole lot more of their money and property here than they would almost Mr. TATELHAUM: No. anyplace clse. The word is out: Florida is a debtor's paradise. STAHL: Then I just move myself down here, I buy a nice house with 160 U"idcntilicd Woman: Bankruptcy Court, may I help you? acres and pour all my money into it, and I don't have to pay my debts? Mr. CHlJCK TATELHAUM (I.Dwyer): I get at least five calls a week Mr. TATELBAUI\1: That's what the law says. It's not right, but that's fmm lawyers around the country who know that I practice bankruptcy law, what the law is. And right now, that's what the courts have to enforce. My and they say, 'I have this client who has money, and creditors may he afler creditor clients just·-all over the country are just amazed at this. And they just say, 'How call it be')' 11 . ~ I " ~ . " (Footage of large houses) You appointed her to take your place. STAHL: (Voiceover) How can it be that this it-can't-possibly-be-just-one Mr. BlLZERIAN: Yes. house house is the home of a former high-flying Wall Street financier, STAHL: Yes. And--and in that position she earns $300,000 a year. .C7.-; who's known these days as Florida bankruptcy case 91-1 0466-8P7, Paul Mr. U1LZERIAN: That's correct. Bilzerian? STAIIL: Which--and thal--Ihat's certainly a healthy amounl of money for Is it--it is unfair to call you a corporate raider? any family to live on, you'd--you would not disagree. Mr. PAUL BlLZERIAN (Wall Street Financier): I hate that term. Mr. BILZERIAN: No, no. STAHL: I figured you would hate that term. STAHL: So you're not broke. (Footage of articles on Bilzerian; a house) Mr. 81LZERIAN: Well--well, that tech--as long as my wife stays married "j' STAll L: (Voiceover) Bilzerian' s last corporate raid in 1988 was on the to me, I'd say that that's probably right. billion dollar Singer Sewing Machine Company. A year later, he was (Footage of Stahl and Bilzerian) convicted of securities fraud and went to jail for 14 months. The Singer STAHL: (Voiceover) As they would be in many other states, her salary and Company went bankrupt. Bilzerian, who once boasted he was worth $80 stock in the company are totally protected from his creditors. million, declared personal bankruptcy in 1991, but he still got to keep that People say, 'This man should pay his bills. If he can have a house like house. It's actually in his wife's name, but in Florida, he could have kept that, he should pay his bills.' it even if it weren't. Mr. 81LZERIAN: Well, you have to look at who would be saying thaI. How much did you pour into that house? We've seen $10 million. Is I mean ... that ball park? STAHL: I mean anybody. Mr. BlLZERIAN: No, I think that's high. Mr. UILZERIAN: But. .. STAHL: Six million? ST AUL: I will say that. Mr. BlLZERIAN: I think that's closer. Mr. BlLZERIAN: All right. ST AIIL: Is the house fully paid for'? STAHL: All right? Mr. BlLZERIAN: Yes. Mr. BILZERIAN: But then you've got to look at the hills. STAHL: So you don't have a mortgage. (Footage of bills; Bilzerian) Mr. BlLZERIAN: No. STAHL: (Voiceover) So we looked at the bills. They total more than $100 STAIIL: The Bil7.erians didn't invite us over for a close-up look at the million. The US government alone wants around $80 million. Bilzerian house, so we found a pretty good vantage point across this lake. As you says Ihe bills are bogus. He bc1ieves the entire case against him is unfair. can see, the mansion looks more like Bilzerian University than a single Mr. BlLZERIAN: So I look at my largest creditor and I say, 'If my family home. Over here, hehind those trees, is the guest house, which is largest creditor doesn't get paid a dime, that will not break my heart.' Now a fabulous mansion all by itsc1f. The whole complex has 21 bathrooms, an if that was a bunch of little workmen out there, people that worked on my indoor squash court. At this end, there's a full-size basketball court with house, little guys out there that had lost money, Lesley, 1 believe, probably, bleachers and an c1ectronic scoreboard. And this man says he's broke! my wife and I would be doing everything in our power to pay that, !f So, are you broke? regardless of the law. Mr. IULZERIAN: Well, 1--1 guess--in--in a manner of speaking, 1 guess STAHL: And you don't owe anybody like that, is what you're saying? I would have to be.