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Fugitive businessman shoots himself in park

Accused of bilking clients out of $12-million, he failed to show up for trial in Miami.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published November 15, 2006

Facing federal charges his New Port Richey company bilked clients out of $12-million, Michael Scarpon Sr. was on trial when things took a turn for the worse.

He became a fugitive Monday when he failed to show up in Miami for the trial's continuation.

The search ended Tuesday when his body was found in a Pinellas County park.

Scarpon's family told an acquaintance, attorney John Trevena, that the 60-year-old man took his life with a self-inflicted gunshot.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said his body was found at 9:26 a.m. in John Chestnut Sr. Park in Palm Harbor. Still investigating, the agency would not release any further details.

Trevena knew Scarpon but was not representing him in the trial. Surprising testimony "drove him over the edge," Trevena said, and left his defense attorneys "less than enthusiastic."

Scarpon, the president of Williams & Associates International Inc., and company vice president Fredric Blair Layne were on trial together on charges of wire fraud.

Scarpon's family reported him missing to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office at 2 p.m. Monday.

His wife told a deputy her husband had a gun and was depressed about the trial. Later his daughter called the deputy and said her father was considering turning himself in.

Federal authorities say Williams & Associates bilked clients out of millions in an advance fee scheme instead of securing the $3-billion in promised financing. Scarpon was arrested in November 2004 and released on $250,000 bail.

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report. Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@sptimes.com or 727 869-6236.

[Last modified November 14, 2006, 23:24:21]