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Knight rides to rescue of Trump Tower

By JAMES THORNER
Published November 23, 2006

Mirabilis Ventures Inc. is a private equity company founded in 2004 with the aim of rescuing distressed companies.

Trump Tower Tampa has been trapped in financial limbo and remains just a splotch of undeveloped downtown riverfront.

The Mirabilis knight has found its Trump Tower damsel.

Both companies confirmed Wednesday that Mirabilis has assumed management of the luxury condominium tower destined to be West Florida's biggest skyscraper. Mirabilis, an Orlando company that runs a web of 70 affiliates with revenues of $850-million, acquired both Trump Tower and Clearwater's Antigua Bay Yacht Club from SimDag LLC.

Terms weren't disclosed, but SimDag principals, including chief executive Frank Dagostino, retain an interest in Trump and Antigua.

"We realized we needed a financial partner," Dagostino said in a press statement. "Now we can harvest the seeds of our work of the past several years and leverage the resources of Mirabilis."

Mirabilis plans to pay off millions of dollars in unpaid contractor bills SimDag racked up trying to launch Trump and Antigua. Trump Tower's biggest stumbling block had been the lack of a loan to finance the $309-million project. Mirabilis said two undisclosed banks have already offered nonbinding commitments to loan the project money.

Though the tower would bear Donald Trump's name through a licensing deal, the New York tycoon isn't developing the property personally.

Trump Tower would be Mirabilis' largest venture. In its short corporate life that began with a $14-million investment in 2004, Mirabilis has specialized in human resources and staffing. It wants to build a network of affiliates that trade goods and services with one another. Its Chinese import business, for example, could supply the marble for Trump Tower's lobby and 190 condos.

Mirabilis and its founder Frank Amodeo haven't escaped legal entanglements. Amodeo is a former lawyer who served two years in federal prison in the 1990s for a $50,000 fraud case in Georgia.

Earlier this year, Mirabilis and Amodeo were accused in Tampa bankruptcy court of "fraud, dishonesty and mismanagement" in its dealings with Community Health Solutions of America LLC, a medical claims processing company in St. Petersburg. Mirabilis invested in the company last year and was accused of bilking it of money before Community Health filed for bankruptcy in April. Mirabilis vice president Woody Johnson said the company was recently cleared.

'"The judge said to the court that somebody owes Mr. Amodeo an apology," Johnson said.

Another company with ties to Mirabilis and Amodeo is AQMI Strategy Corp., a global security company that hit the news this year. Three staffers were arrested in the Congo and accused of plotting to overthrow the African nation's government. With a whiff of Soldier of Fortune magazine, AQMI notes its expertise in "negotiations, security and threat neutralization."

The employees were providing security for a Congo presidential candidate. They were eventually deported unharmed, though AQMI still does business in hot spots, such as Afghanistan.

Mirabilis recently bought out Amodeo's stake in the company but he still gets paid as a consultant, Johnson said.

[Last modified November 22, 2006, 22:26:44]