Business: Lou Pearlman: A time line

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Lou Pearlman: A time line

By JOHN MARTIN
Published June 15, 2007

2006

Mid December: Pearlman's Trans Continental Airlines of Orlando notified investors that it had stopped processing withdrawals from its Employee Investment Savings Account program.

Dec. 27: The state Office of Financial Regulation sued Trans Continental in Orange County Circuit Court, saying the company's EISA program was an unregistered security that violated Florida law. Trans Continental denied the charges but agreed to halt all sales.

Dec. 28: Integra Bank of Evansville, Ind., sued Pearlman and Trans Continental to recover more than $18-million it said was owed.

2007

Jan. 23: The Orange County Sheriff's Office seized Pearlman's 1968 Gulfstream jet as court-ordered security, turning the jet over to First International Bank & Trust, a North Dakota bank that said Pearlman owed $19.6-million.

Feb. 1: Bank of America filed two lawsuits against Pearlman in Orange County Circuit Court, saying he defaulted on business and personal loans. At that point, lawsuits filed against Pearlman and existing unpaid judgments contained claims of more than $160-million.

Feb. 2: Florida regulators said that the EISA program that Pearlman sold to more than 1,000 investors was a massive fraud. Also that day, Orange County Circuit Judge Renee Roche appointed a receiver to take over Trans Continental Airlines, which sponsored the EISA program, and two affiliated companies, Trans Continental Airlines Travel Service Inc. and Trans Continental Enterprises LLC.

Feb. 6: The Trans Continental investment scheme was twice as big as the state originally thought. Receiver Jerry McHale said his review of Trans Continental's records indicated $204.6-million in the EISA program and another $112.7-million in a stock program for a total of $317.3-million.

Feb. 15: Law enforcement officials used search warrants to enter Trans Continental's office in Orlando and Pearlman's home in Windermere to retrieve records.

Early March: Four lenders filed petitions to force Pearlman and Trans Continental Airlines into involuntary bankruptcy. The lenders said they were owed $64-million.

April 5: Church Street Station, the Orlando entertainment complex that housed Trans Continental offices, is sold at auction for $34-million.

June 12: An auction of the remnants of Pearlman's entertainment empire is held by order of the bankruptcy court. Trustee Soneet Kapila estimated that the auction brought in about $225,000, before expenses.

June 14: In Indonesia, the FBI takes Pearlman into custody. He is being held on a charge of one count of bank fraud.