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Canadian accused of false investment scam

He and his partner bilked members of the Tampa Bay Beach Boppers, authorities say.

By CHRIS TISCH
Published February 8, 2006

A smooth-talking Canadian named Danny Taite began showing up at dances held by the Tampa Bay Beach Boppers in 1994. Taite came with his girlfriend, a member of the local dance group.

He talked of making fast money from his investments in canoes and air filters. Word spread among club members, some of them retirees on fixed incomes, that the investments were a sure thing with a 20 percent return. During the next three years, 27 Floridians, most of them dance club members, invested more than $500,000 in Taite's ventures, authorities said.

Most saw no return. Some lost life savings. One had two nervous breakdowns. Others lost their homes. Some had to delay retirement or work two jobs to survive.

"He ruined my life. He took every penny I had," said Reta Hagan, a former dance club member who lost more than $100,000.

Taite, whose real name is David Teitelbaum, was charged Monday with 50 felony counts of organized fraud and selling unregistered securities. If convicted, he faces decades in prison.

Teitelbaum, 58, remained in jail Tuesday. A bail hearing is scheduled Friday. He has pleaded not guilty.

His partner in the ventures, Richard Western, 51, also is wanted on the same criminal charges. Western is in Canada but plans to turn himself in soon, said his local attorney, Jeffrey Brown.

Brown said he just began reviewing evidence in the case but so far thinks it's a business deal gone sour, not a criminal enterprise.

But a 34-page affidavit by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents paints a picture of Teitelbaum infiltrating the dance club, then preying on members as positive word of mouth spread.

When the scheme started to collapse and investors sought their money back, Teitelbaum told them to keep quiet about it.

The affidavit also indicates Teitelbaum may have established double lives in Florida and Canada.

Elaine Hossler, the girlfriend in Florida who brought him to the dance club (and to whom he later was engaged), told agents she had no idea he had a common-law wife and several children in Canada until after they broke up in 1995.

Hossler said she met Teitelbaum in 1992 while he was vacationing in Pinellas County. He began working as a salesman for Oxford Capital Management Ltd., a Canadian company owned by Western, the affidavit states.

Teitelbaum moved in with Hossler and ran his office out of her house, though he often returned to Canada for weeks at a time.

She introduced him to friends at the dance club.

The Tampa Bay Beach Boppers formed in 1989 and has 235 members. It consists mostly of baby boomers. The group holds dances, including an annual Beach Boogie, according to its Web site.

The group gives to charity and has a board of officers and a newsletter, the Jitter Shag Rag.

Teitelbaum began to talk with Hossler's dance friends about his investments. One friend later recalled that Teitelbaum "portrayed himself as a high roller and frequently talked about his business and making income from his investments."

Soon, Teitelbaum was taking potential investors to dinner or visiting their homes to talk money. He said they would invest in canoes, air filters and other items, the affidavit states.

Hagan, 58, a registered nurse, said she was ill with lupus when Teitelbaum approached her.

"He's very smooth, very charismatic," she said. "I was sick and could barely lift my head off the couch, and he would come over and say he was worried for me. He told me he was afraid by what I was doing by not investing my money."

Investors, who live throughout the Tampa Bay area, initially received interest checks. Some got family members or friends in on the deal.

But soon the checks began to bounce. Investors called Teitelbaum and Western, who told varying stories of woe: It was a cash flow problem or a mistake by the bank. Teitelbaum blamed Western, and Western blamed Teitelbaum, the affidavit states.

In late 1997, one of the investors' attorneys filed a criminal complaint, and the FDLE began investigating. Three years later, arrest warrants were issued for Teitelbaum and Western.

The two were arrested on the Florida warrants last year in Canada. Both bailed out of jail to await extradition. This month, Teitelbaum, who had been working as a salesman in Canada, drove to Florida to turn himself in, said his attorney, Frank Louderback.

Where the investors' money went is a mystery. Agents said the investigation was still in progress.

Hagan sued Teitelbaum, Western and the company and won a judgment of nearly $200,000 in losses and fees, but she hasn't seen a nickel. She had to sell her condo and lost savings she worked for all her life.

"My future will never be the same," she said. "I'll never have what I could have had. There's no way I could go back and earn that again."

Chris Tisch can be reached tisch@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 8, 2006, 01:14:12]