Is Tampa man a true millionaire or fraudulent pretender? - Tampa Bay Online

TAMPA --

On his dating introduction tape for "Millionaire Matchmaker," Michael A. Prozer III told America, "I would estimate, modestly, my net worth to be about $400 million."

Appearing on the Bravo channel show where purportedly rich singles search for true love under the tutelage of a brash matchmaker, the Tampa resident showed off what he said were his private plane and his 33,000-square foot mansion; he talked about globe hopping, meeting with foreign presidents and captains of industry.

He was chief executive officer, he said, of a company that facilitated Internet credit payments for people in South America, a kind of Latin Pay Pal. He portrayed himself as a successful online entrepreneur looking for a beautiful, dark-haired life partner who would mesh with his high-flying lifestyle and help him parent his two young sons.

But federal prosecutors say the Tampa man is a fraud adept of separating people and institutions from their money.

Whether Prozer is an actual millionaire, a scam artist or someone who wildly overestimates his own worth and somehow just makes the wrong enemies remains to be seen.

Prozer's role as CEO of the company Xchange Agent was "essential to the operation of (a) fraud scheme," according to a federal indictment handed up in April charging Prozer with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.

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The federal indictment describes a plot that prosecutors say unfolded in the months before his "Millionaire Matchmaker" episode was broadcast in April 2009. The indictment says Prozer paid Fedor Stanley Salinas, an employee of Wachovia bank, $25,000 to make it appear Prozer had $21 million on deposit to be used as collateral for a $3 million loan from another bank, Park Avenue Bank in Georgia. The $3 million loan was never repaid.

As part of the scheme, the indictment says Prozer and an unnamed co-conspirator met with a Park Avenue Bank representative in November 2008 at an airport in Trinidad and Tobago. The coconspirator posed as "Gaston," a representative of First Caribbean International Bank, who could verify that Prozer had $145 million on deposit there.

Prozer said there's more to this case than meets the eye. "I think you would be insanely shocked and surprised at what the real story is," he said. "Nothing about the indictment expresses the truth."

The indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury in Tampa in April, but Prozer has struggled to find the money to hire a lawyer. He has insisted he could afford to pay for his own defense, and federal judges have ordered him to get an attorney so the case could proceed.

As of Friday, Prozer told U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins he was having money wired to the high-profile law firm of Barry Cohen.

For now, Jenkins told Prozer he would be his own attorney. "Either you're the most unlucky person in the world or you don't have a good grip on reality or it's just unfortunate economic times," the exasperated judge said.

Cohen's partner, Todd Foster, said people should wait for the facts to come out before forming any opinions about Prozer. "From the little I have seen so far, there is a tremendous amount more to the picture than has been revealed to date," he said.

Asked outside the courthouse whether he's really a millionaire, Prozer said that question would be answered by Foster. In an email, when asked that question, Foster said, "Can't say."

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Prozer initially seemed shocked when approached by a reporter wanting to interview him. "Am I really that relevant?" he asked.

But in January, before he was indicted, Prozer described himself in court filings as "an Internet mogul, internationally known businessman and television show participant."

He said then that he "regularly works with and is sought out by government officials and celebrity entrepreneurs, which include major recording artists and movie stars, among others."

The self-descriptions were contained in a federal lawsuit he filed in an attempt to find whoever is behind websites bearing his name that proclaim him to be a fraud and scam artist.

"This guy scams old ladies of money," one site says, according to an exhibit attached to his lawsuit. "He scams the Internet community out of money, he even scams his friends! He has scammed over 31 people, businesses and banks in the last five years."

A developer who evicted Prozer twice from a multimillion dollar house says he wonders if the "Millionaire Matchmaker" screens its contestants to see whether they really are worth millions.

"Do they not check anything?" asked the developer, Don Hughes. "I heard about the 33,000-square-foot house" he claimed to own. "I would bet my life that he didn't own that at any time."

A lawyer who sued Prozer in Georgia went further. He suggested the show helped Prozer create an appearance of legitimacy, helping him take money from would-be investors.

"Some people who invested after the airing of the show may have actually drawn comfort from the fact that Bravo had double-checked this multimillionaire and he was a good risk," said the lawyer, Joel Wadsworth.

A spokeswoman for the show declined to comment for this story.

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On the show, matchmaker Patti Stanger described Prozer as "trailer park trash." But she was talking about his appearance, not his income, which she didn't challenge.

Stanger pleaded with Prozer to let her do a makeover, change his bowl haircut, put him in nice clothes or get a plastic surgeon to give him a chin implant. But Prozer refused to change.

His one concession was to lose some of the jewelry that clanked on his wrists, fingers and neck. He showed up at a dating mixer wearing what Stanger described as a "hick outfit" looking like a "doofus clown."

For his date, he selected Elana, a tall, sultry commercial broker. He whisked her off in a private jet to a spacious house in Florida. On the plane, he munched on cookies and milk and talked about his love for junk food. From there, the date went downhill.

At the mansion, he offered her microwaved potato skins while he drank Coke and Gatorade. Then, while they were hitting golf balls, Prozer told Elana he had to go to the bathroom. He then stepped behind some bushes and took care of business.

To top it all off, he took his date jet skiing, something she said she'd never done before. He gunned his motor, blasting water all over her. For Elana, that was it. Prozer, she decided, was an egotistical jerk. "It definitely explains why he doesn't have anybody," she told the camera.

At a recent federal court appearance, Prozer's fashion choices had changed. Instead of the jeans and glittery T-shirt he wore on television, he wore a conservative gray suit. Gone was most of the clunky jewelry so disparaged by Stanger, replaced by a more discreet ankle bracelet courtesy of the court system. A week later, he showed up for court in faded jeans and a white cotton shirt.

His legal troubles aren't just in federal criminal court.

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Weeks before his "Millionaire Matchmaker" appearance, he was sued in Georgia accused of fraud. Allegations in that lawsuit closely parallel charges now contained in the federal criminal indictment.

John E. Hosch, Centre Equities Inc. and Cherokee Investments accused Prozer and his companies of soliciting $82,500 for stock that was never issued. As part of the alleged scheme, Prozer is accused of making it appear he had $21 million deposited in a Wachovia account. Hosch says he personally guaranteed the $3 million loan and another for $300,000, both of which Prozer never repaid.

Wadsworth, the lawyer who filed the complaint for Hosch, said the "Millionaire Matchmaker" show was "scripted, a lie unchecked by anybody."

Another lawyer, William "Bo" Gray, later took over the case and dismissed that lawsuit, but filed a new one, this time without the stock fraud claim.

Prozer, Gray said, "must be an amazingly convincing person, someone who could sell bark to trees."

In a separate, related case, a Georgia judge last year entered a default judgment against Prozer, ordering him to pay the now-defunct Park Avenue Bank more than $3.1 million for the loan he signed for in 2008.

Months after Prozer's television appearance, his companies sued him in Hillsborough Circuit Court. According to the complaint, which was recently scheduled to be dismissed, the businesses were "development stage companies with no assets and no revenues that have never been worth $400 million."

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The lawsuit accused Prozer of soliciting investors with false, altered or forged documents to create the appearance that the companies had more than $145 million on deposit. The complaint says Prozer used investor funds for his own personal expenses, including $33,000 a month to lease a home and other money for shoes, clothes, food, transportation and other items. "In short," the complaint stated, "Prozer treated investor funds as his own."

In July 2009, company shareholders voted to remove Prozer from the board of directors, according to the lawsuit.

In a response, Prozer accused the new CEO, Jason Donald, of lying to shareholders. The television show, he said, was "highly edited" and "merely for entertainment purposes."

His $400 million worth, Prozer wrote, "is based on forecast and was not represented to be an actual cash asset description or 'cash on hand' as plaintiffs allege."

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Prozer's financial troubles extended to his homes.

In late 2009, he wanted to buy an 8,000-square-foot house on the water on Davis Islands. Hughes, the developer, said he showed Prozer two houses, and Prozer chose the most expensive one.

But Prozer wanted to rent at first, and Hughes said he let Prozer move in. On a Friday, Prozer gave him checks for the first and last months' rent of $31,250 a month, Hughes said. Prozer moved in over the weekend. By the following Monday or Tuesday, the checks had bounced.

So Hughes evicted Prozer and filed a complaint with the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office. Hughes said Prozer paid the money to the prosecutor and the money was forwarded to Hughes, so Hughes dropped the charge.

Hughes said he let Prozer back into the house when Prozer gave him a cashier's check for $150,000 as a non-refundable down payment on a $4.2 million purchase contract. But Prozer never came up with the rest of the money to close, and he evicted him again.

During the dispute, Prozer argued that because Hughes' business was then in bankruptcy, Hughes could not legally convey title to the house. Hughes said this claim was "just an amateurish attempt to get out of paying."

Hughes said Prozer was constantly talking about big business deals he was working on with a big payoff just around the corner. He continually said he expected to be getting $2 billion in two weeks. But he never had money.

"He dresses real rag tag, doesn't have a car," Hughes said. "He has some guy drive him around in a modest little car. Very few possessions in the house. Basically lived like a college kid."

Prozer had three or four pieces of furniture in the house and several pictures of Playboy models autographed to him, Hughes said. Prozer had decorators and furniture sales people coming and going, Hughes said. He got quotes, but didn't order anything.

Once when he was at the house, Hughes said, TECO came to shut off the power because the bill hadn't been paid.

"I asked him, 'How do you live?' " Hughes said. "He said, 'Credit cards.' " After Prozer moved out, Hughes said, he was contacted by the pool guy and lawn guy Prozer had hired to do work. "He stiffed them." Same with a man Prozer hired to work on the boat dock.

Hughes was unsure what to make of Prozer.

"I don't know if he's completely dishonest or he has unrealistic beliefs or expectations of money he's going to be getting in," Hughes said. "It just became such an avalanche of half truths, lies and suspiciousness."