FORT MILL --
A man says officials at a former Baxter Village company took more than $173,000 that he set aside to help a developer.
Wink Rea, a Fort Mill real estate developer and president of Move Fort Mill Forward, is suing Advantage Financial. He alleges the group took escrow money intended to help another developer with a project and spent it on personal items.
Joining Rea in the suit is Dale Young of York County and the Montreux Group, a York County development company. They allege that multiple other people also are owed money by Advantage and its two managing partners, Thomas M. Brandenburg II of Fort Mill and Craig K. Richards of North Carolina.
The lawsuit did not identify the other alleged victims.
York County Councilman Paul Lindemann said this week he also is owed money by Advantage and has been interviewed by the FBI. The U.S. Justice Department could not be reached for comment.
Rea filed a civil suit in September 2009 against the company, Brandenburg and Richards. He's seeking the $173,125 he gave the company for escrow, as well as an additional $7,000 in attorney fees.
Young, a managing member of York County-based developer Montreux, says she provided $68,000 in escrow funds to Advantage Financial. The money was set aside to help a company that was seeking a construction loan through Advantage Financial.
But the loan never came through and the escrow money, Rea said, was never paid back.
Young and Rea accuse Advantage Financial of "carrying out a widespread fraudulent scheme, whereby they induce their client victims ... to enter escrow agreements ... and then willingly, knowingly and fraudulently convert the funds to their own use," according to court documents.
Lindemann says he and Greg Rogers, both Fort Mill residents and former partners in Pinecrest Holdings, an investment company, were contracted by Advantage Financial to recruit business for the company.
When Lindemann and Rogers heard from Advantage clients that the company wasn't returning phone calls and was delaying closing on loans, they went straight to the FBI, they said.
Lindemann and Rogers say Advantage never paid commissions on the business they brought to the company. Rogers said he estimates the company owes them nearly $1 million in potential commissions.
But they have not sued Advantage because they can't afford an attorney and they don't believe Advantage has enough assets to pay the commissions, they said.
"This is an instance where everyone involved has been financially devastated," Rogers said.
Rea said that he became suspicious of Advantage Financial after they delayed closing on the construction loan related to his escrow payment.
Young's closing also was delayed and she, too, was suspicious. The pair, business acquaintances, met to talk about their concerns and discovered that the account numbers for their escrow deposits matched.
That violated their separate escrow agreements, according to the lawsuit. Both agreements said that each escrow account would not be combined with escrow deposits from any other corporation or individual.
When the pair went to BB&T, where the escrow money was held, and demanded to see the account, there was no money in it, according to court documents filed by Young and Rea.
In a response to the lawsuit filed in York County common pleas court, Richards denied wrongdoing. But he admitted owing money to Rea and Young. Brandenburg has not filed a response with the court.
Neither Brandenburg nor Richards could be reached for comment. The attorneys listed in court records as representing Brandenburg and Richards said they no longer are involved with the case.
Toya Graham of the Fort Mill Times contributed
