Miami-Dade drug felon makes quick buck in $12 million tax-refund ID-theft scam

A convicted Miami-Dade drug trafficker unemployed for the past decade discovered how to make a quick buck, cashing $12 million in fraudulent tax-refund checks over five months last year, authorities say.

Frankie Jermaine Anderson skimmed 20 percent of the take for himself, gave 30 percent to a Perrine check-cashing store owner and delivered the other half of the proceeds to the supplier of the refund checks, according to federal prosecutors.

Anderson, 40, was arrested Tuesday on a criminal complaint and charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, theft of federal money and aggravated identity theft. He will have a detention hearing in Miami federal court Monday.

Anderson’s alleged scheme, while hardly unusual in one of the nation’s ID-theft, tax-refund fraud capitals, is nonetheless striking for the total value of Treasury Department checks cashed over such a short span.

Internal Revenue Service agents initially took down Anderson in a sting operation in November, when he was caught with 35 Treasury refund checks totaling $119,165 that he was allegedly trying to cash through a confidential source and undercover agent in Miami. Anderson confessed to the Perrine check-cashing store scam to IRS agents, according to the criminal complaint.

Prosecutor Michael Berger said the fraudulently obtained refund checks in Anderson’s possession included one for a dead person.

The U.S. attorney’s office has moved to seize two homes in Southwest Miami-Dade that are valued at $250,000 each. One home was purchased for Anderson and his wife, Debra, and the other for Anderson’s mother, Berger said.

Also, the office has filed papers to seize Anderson’s fleet of late-model cars: a BMW 530i, BMW X6, Porsche Cayenne, Porsche Panamera, Cadillac CTS, Jaguar XF, Jaguar XJ, and Bentley GT Coupe.

According to state records, Anderson has been unemployed since 2003.

Federal court records show Anderson was convicted in 1995 of conspiracy to possess with intent to manufacture and distribute cocaine. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

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Diane Lane and Josh Brolin to Divorce

Diane Lane, 48, and Josh Brolin, 45, are divorcing after eight years of marriage.

"Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage," reps for the couple confirm to ET.

Pics: Top 10 Biggest Divorce Payouts

According to Us Weekly, the divorce "was a mutual decision. It is very amicable. It's not ugly, it's just over."

The two reportedly already split a couple of months ago, and have no children together.

Video: Diane Lane After Husband Josh Brolin's Arrest

This will be the second divorce for both stars.

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Brooklyn Heights woman steals $33K from child

A Brooklyn Heights woman stole $33,000 meant for a child whose grandmother had died, authorities said.

Katrina Perry, 56, took benefits meant to support her own niece who had been adopted by Perry’s mother and the child’s grandmother, investigators said.

The grandmother received checks to support her granddaughter, who is also Perry’s niece, but she died in August 2006, officials said.

“This defendant exploited her family’s situation,” said DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn.

The child was thrust into the foster care system but the city continued sending adoption support checks to the grandmother, authorities said.

Perry failed to notify the Administration for Children’s Services that her mother died and the child had been sent to another home, officials said.

Instead, she used her mom’s senior citizen’s MTA reduced fare card to open a checking account in her mother’s name and used it to pocket the payments for several years, authorities said.

“(Perry) illegally siphoned tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds, according to the criminal complaint,” Gill Hearn said. “But the City exposed this troubling conduct and stopped the ongoing charged theft.”

An internal review found that the city was writing checks to the child’s new foster parents as well as the deceased grandmother who had adopted her, authorities said.

Perry was charged yesterday with two counts of grand larceny, 30 counts of identity theft and 14 counts each of petit larceny and criminal impersonation.

kconley@nypost.com

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Broward’s existing home sales, prices rose again in January

The median price of an existing single-family home in Broward County jumped 24.5 percent to $224,088 in January from a year earlier, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors.

The median price of a condominium or townhouse in Broward increased 26.5 percent to $94,900 in January from a year earlier.

Sales of single-family-home in Broward increased 15.3 percent in January to 1,033 from a year earlier, while closings on townhouses and condos increased 10.7 percent year over year, the Realtors group said.

Extremely tight inventory continues to shape the market. The number of single family homes available for sale on the multi-listings service plunged 26.5 percent in January to 4,510 from a year earlier. The number of available listings of condos and townhouses on the market was down 11.2 percent year over year to 6,407 units in Broward in January, the group said.

The months of supply of existing single-family homes fell to 3.8 months, while the inventory of condos and townhouses shrank to 4.7 months. A six-month to nine-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers, while a lower level favors sellers, helping fuel price increases, Realtors say.

Broward homes are selling more quickly and for levels closer to their asking prices in Broward. In January, existing single-family homes fetched 93.4 percent of their listing price, up from 90.9 percent a year earlier. Condos and townhouses went for 93.8 perenct of their asking price, an increase of 1.4 percent from a year earlier.

The median days on the market was 48 for a single-family home, down from 53 a year earlier, and 42 days for a condo or townhouse, down from 43 in January 2012.

“I’m seeing strength right across the board,’’ said Charles Bonfiglio, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Realtors and head of AAA Realty Group. Many Broward residences are fetching multiple offers, frequently above the asking price, he said.

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Author Dan Pallotta hopes to wake up charity leaders at Philanthropy Miami

The way author and entrepreneur Dan Pallotta sees it, charities need to start taking big risks – the kind of risks a business would make.

Pallotta will be speaking about his philosophy during the first day of the Leadership Forum at the Philanthropy Miami conference in Jungle Island on Feb. 21 which focuses on the trends and practices in non-profit management. Currently in its second year, the conference is hosted by South Florida’s Leave a Legacy organization.

“It’s important for charities to come together and share their best practices,” said Teresa Weintraub, co-chair of Leave a Legacy, a nonprofit that promotes philanthropy in Miami-Dade County.

The Leadership Forum will highlight Pallotta’s idea that nonprofit leaders need to take a more proactive economic approach and begin running their organizations like businesses.

He said the things that charity leaders have been taught about undermining the costs is incorrect.

“We have always been taught that charities should spend as little money as possible,” said Pallotta, who is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multiday AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. “But unless charities allow themselves to grow then the problems they face are not going to get solved.”

His most recent book is called “Charity Case: How the Nonprofit community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World”.

The second day of the conference will take place on March 14 at the Hilton Miami Downtown and feature HGTV co-founder Susan Packard.

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Vanity Fair Party: Freida Pinto, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jessica Lowndes on Oscars

With the Academy Awards just a few days away, this Sunday's anticipated ceremony is all the buzz this week. At an event benefiting the global education campaign 10x10, the night's host, Freida Pinto, revealed her Oscar favorite.

"One of the films that I was truly surprised with...[and] truly entertained was 'Argo,'" the actress said of her favorite film of the year. "It was an all-around entertaining film for me. ...I was on the edge of my seat throughout the film. Good luck to the film."

PICS: Look Who's Presenting at The Oscars!

The Immortals actress was host of the D.J. Night event hosted by Vanity Fair and L'Oréal Paris and also narrated part of 10x10's film Girl Rising, which highlights the organization's main motif that education can change someone's life.

Also, a narrator of the film was 16-year-old actress Chloë Grace Moretz, who divulged an actress that she'll be rooting for at the Oscars.

"I really, really hope Anne Hathaway wins because I love her and she's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet," Moretz said of the Les Misérables actress nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

VIDEO: Olivia Munn & More Reveal Oscar Favorites

With many great films and performances nominated for the same awards, it's difficult not only for the Academy but fans as well to pinpoint one film or performance that exceeds the others.

"I'm rooting for them all," 90210 actress Jessica Lowndes said. "I know it's generic and kind of what everyone says, but as an actress I just get so excited for everybody. It's such an accomplishment. ...I just get happy for everybody, so I'm excited for everything."

Select your favorites for this Sunday's Academy Awards with ETonline's interactive Oscars ballot.

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'I did these things' : Jesse Jackson Jr. in tearful guilty plea

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., holding back tears, entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces 46 to 57 months in prison under a plea deal with prosecutors

Before entering the plea to the conspiracy charge, Jackson told U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins, "I've never been more clear in my life" in his decision to plead guilty.

Later, when Wilkins asked if Jackson committed the acts outlined in court papers, the former congressman replied, "I did these things." He added later, "Sir, for years I lived in my campaign," and used money from the campaign for personal use.

Getty Images

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. enters U.S. District Court today before his guilty plea.

Jackson dabbed his face with tissues, and at point a court employee brought some tissues to Jackson's lawyer, who gave them to the ex-congressman.

Jackson told the judge he was waiving his right to trial.

"In perfect candor, your honor, I have no interest in wasting the taxpayers' time or money," he said.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 28, and Wilkins is not bound by the plea agreement. Jackson is free until then.

Jackson entered the courtroom holding hands with his wife, Sandra, and looking a bit dazzled as he surveyed the packed room. He kissed his wife and headed to the defense table. She is expected to plead guilty to plead guilty on a charge of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011 that knowingly understated the income the couple received.

Jackson's father, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, sat in the front row. Before the hearing started, he wrote notes on a small piece of paper. When the proceedings started, he sat expressionless and virtually motionless, hands folded.

Jesse Jackson Jr., wearing a blue shirt and blue-patterned tie and gray suit, answered a series of questions from the judge, mostly in a muffled tone. When the judge asked if he had consumed any drugs or alcohol in the previous 24 hours, Jackson said he had a beer Tuesday night.

Jackson, 47, used campaign money to buy items including a $43,350 gold-plated men's Rolex watch and $9,587.64 worth of children's furniture, according to court papers filed in the case. His wife spent $5,150 on fur capes and parkas, the court documents said. Prosecutors said that upon conviction Jackson must forfeit $750,000, plus tens of thousands of dollars' worth of memorabilia items and furs.

As the proceedings wound up, Jackson sat at the defense table and shook his head in what looked like an expression of disbelief. After the hearing was adjourned, he walked over to his wife, grabbed her hand, and then was greeted by his father. Jackson Jr. patted his father on the back a few times.

"Tell everybody back home I'm sorry I let them down, OK?" Jackson told Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet, according to her Tweet from the scene.

The charge against Sandra Jackson carries a maximum of three years in prison. However, one of her lawyers, Tom Kirsch, says the plea agreement "does not contemplate a sentence of that length." Sandra Jackson was a Chicago alderman before she resigned last month during the federal investigation.

As the hearing for Jackson got under way Wednesday, newly filed court papers disclosed that the judge had offered to disqualify himself from handling the cases against Jackson and his wife.

As a Law School student, Wilkins said he had supported the presidential campaign of Jackson's father, civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, and that as an attorney in 1999, Wilkins had been a guest on a show hosted by Jackson's father.

Prosecutors and lawyers for the couple said they were willing to proceed with the cases with Wilkins presiding. Judicial ethics require that a judge disqualify himself if his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.

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Author Dan Pallotta hopes to wake up charity leaders at Philanthropy Miami

The way author and entrepreneur Dan Pallotta sees it, charities need to start taking big risks – the kind of risks a business would make.

Pallotta will be speaking about his philosophy during the first day of the Leadership Forum at the Philanthropy Miami conference in Jungle Island on Feb. 21 which focuses on the trends and practices in non-profit management. Currently in its second year, the conference is hosted by South Florida’s Leave a Legacy organization.

“It’s important for charities to come together and share their best practices,” said Teresa Weintraub, co-chair of Leave a Legacy, a nonprofit that promotes philanthropy in Miami-Dade County.

The Leadership Forum will highlight Pallotta’s idea that nonprofit leaders need to take a more proactive economic approach and begin running their organizations like businesses.

He said the things that charity leaders have been taught about undermining the costs is incorrect.

“We have always been taught that charities should spend as little money as possible,” said Pallotta, who is the founder of Pallotta TeamWorks, which invented the multiday AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days. “But unless charities allow themselves to grow then the problems they face are not going to get solved.”

His most recent book is called “Charity Case: How the Nonprofit community Can Stand Up For Itself and Really Change the World”.

The second day of the conference will take place on March 14 at the Hilton Miami Downtown and feature HGTV co-founder Susan Packard.

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Parents and kids have plenty of choices for spring break camps

Camp can be the highlight of the year for kids. But they don’t have to wait until the summer to get the fun to begin.

This year many places are running themed camps to make spring break more exciting for kids. From the Miami Children’s Museum’s exploration of the 50 states, to North Miami’s tennis camps, there is a camp to match every kid’s interests.

Here are a few examples.

Museum experience

The Beaux Arts Children’s Pavilion at the Lowe Art Museum will run an arts camp for children ages 5-12.

The kids will work with different media of art, from painting and drawing to papier mache and ceramics.

“It’s a constant moving machine,” Ebbert said. “You do three different projects a day. If a kid is bored of one project they can move onto the next. There’s kind of something for every child.”

The campers will walk through the museum, examining different works and learning about how they were made so that the art is no longer “just a painting on the wall,” she said.

“A lot of kids aren’t exposed to art a lot because of funding, and this is a way for them to kind of get that back,” she said. “It’s just another piece to get them a little more well-rounded.”

Another draw of the camp is also the instructors, who are all Miami-Dade art teachers, Ebbert said.

“We have some amazing teacher. They make it come alive and the kids love it,” she said.

One new project the students have begun working on is using recycled materials for projects. One teacher visits a recycling centers and picks out interesting pieces, which she brings back for the kids to use.

“It’s a way to teach them that they can reuse and recycle, and that something that is trash can be made into something that is beautiful and art,” Ebbert said.

Beaux Arts is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1952, and is committed to promoting art throughout Miami. It has been running camps for children for over two decades, Ebbert said.

The camp will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 25 to March 29 at the Lowe Art Museum located at 1301 Stanford Drive, Coral Gables. Registration costs $220. Visit beauxartsmiami.org for more information.

Road trip across the 50 states

The Miami Children’s Museum is taking a trip across America this spring break. The camp focus on the museum’s new Weebles Coast to Coast exhibit, using it to explore the 50 states with the kids. The exhibit focuses on states, their major cities and important information about each, such as Chicago being the birthplace of pop art.

“The campers will go on little mini adventures,” sales manager Yanet Fernandez-Gonclaves said. “It’s all very interactive. So when they walk away from it they can say, ‘Oh I really liked Georgia, because that’s where they grow the peaches.’ ”

The focus of the camp is part of a push at the museum to have more culturally-focused activities, Fernandez-Gonclaves said. The museum usually focuses on general topics such as spring for their camps.

“The best part about the theme is that the kids learn about the richness of America,” she said.

The camp incorporate what the campers have learned through arts and crafts, learning American songs and cooking demonstrations.

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Mindy McCready Recorded Song for Suicide Prevention Video

Country singer Mindy McCready recorded a song for a suicide prevention video she was preparing to release before her own apparent suicide.

McCready sings I'll See You Yesterday during the video, which according to her friend Dan "Danno" Hanks -- a Los Angeles-based private investigator -- was intended to be used in a PSA for the anti-suicide organization suicideispreventable.org.

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"She told me that it was beautiful, it made her cry and was exactly what she wanted," Hanks, who produced the video, told People magazine. "I asked her if I could post it and Mindy's answer was, 'You'll know when it's right.' In hindsight, she was having me produce her suicide video," Hanks said.  

The video was dedicated to the singer's deceased boyfriend David Wilson, who died last month after being discovered with a gunshot wound to the head on the same porch where McCready was found dead last Sunday. Along with the audio track of McCready singing, the PSA also shows rural scenes from her home state of Arkansas, as well as photos of McCready and Wilson.

RELATED: Public Memorial Planned for Mindy McCready

The song -- which had been intended for McCready's next album -- was written by her friend Courtney Dashe and co-writer Jason Walker. "We know she has been through a lot and the song clearly resonated with her," Dashe told People. Dashe added that the song "had been really helping (McCready) cope with the loss of her boyfriend."

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