Florida Ponzi Property Of Accused Minnesota Fraudster Bo Beckman Will Drain Cash, Receiver Says; Home With 5 Bathrooms Is ‘Under Water’ And Should Be Beckman’s Problem To Solve

This 10-room home with five baths and a garage of nearly 1,100 sq. ft. in Florida is "under water" on its mortgage and could create a drain on the receivership estate in the Bo Beckman fraud case, according to the court-appointed receiver.

Accused Minnesota fraudster Jason Bo-Alan Beckman’s 5,097-sq.-ft.-home with five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a roomy garage of nearly 1,100 sq. ft. in Palm City, Fla., is seriously “under water” on its mortgage and thus creates a drain on assets that are best used to compensate victims, the court-appointed receiver has advised a federal judge.

Receiver R.J. Zayed has asked Chief U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis for an order that would return control of the property to Beckman and his wife on the theory it is “imprudent to diminish the Receivership’s severely limited resources to continue efforts to market and/or maintain the Property.”

The Beckmans, whose home in Minnesota is in foreclosure, owe “at least” $207,000 more than the Florida property is worth, Zayed advised Davis. The receiver noted that the mortgage has a balance of more than $707,301 and that the home may not even fetch $500,000 if sold.

The “negative equity” should be the Beckmans’ problem, not the problem of the victims of his alleged fraud, which is part of the Trevor Cook Ponzi scheme case, Zayed argued. The SEC sued Bo Beckman earlier this month, alleging that he was a “leading” figure in Cook’s fraud and had “guaranteed” annual returns of 12 percent or greater in an international Forex scheme.

Cook is serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison.

Bo Beckman, according to the SEC, purchased luxury homes in three states and assembled a fleet of luxury cars. He essentially is accused of being a rainmaker for Cook by driving nearly $50 million to the $190 million fraud.

“[T]he Receiver is not seeking to abandon the [Florida] property, but rather have the Court confirm the return the property to the Beckmans’ custody, control and possession, thereby placing at least some of the burden of unwinding the fraud on its perpetrators,” Zayed advised Davis.