Gabrielle Russon
An Orlando hospitality business got tricked into paying its CEO’s $1 million bonus to a scammer, according to new federal court records.
The federal government later recovered about $516,000 of the money, the records show.
The victim business is identified only as “M.E.” in a court filing. But several clues show it appears to be Margaritaville Enterprises — the late Jimmy Buffett’s billion-dollar business empire covering hotels, restaurants and entertainment.
A media contact for Margaritaville Enterprises did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning. The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to give the company’s name when Florida Politics asked.
“We do not wish to make any comments and we do not share victim information,” said spokeswoman Amy Filjones from the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Middle District of Florida.
The scam unfolded when the unnamed hospitality company’s Chief Financial Officer received a Jan. 31 email to pay her boss’ future payments to a new Wells Fargo account. The CEO, who appeared to write the message, provided his purported new account information.
The company’s finance department wired the CEO’s $1 million bonus Feb. 13 to the scammer’s Wells Fargo account.
Twelve days later, the “CEO” emailed the CFO with an “unusual request” for more money. The fake CEO wanted another $900,000 sent to his new Wells Fargo “as soon as possible,” according to federal court records.
Since this raised red flags, the CFO tried to reach the CEO by phone. She got a hold of the CEO’s executive assistant, who confirmed the CEO did not have a Wells Fargo account at all.
The CFO warned human resources that the CEO’s “email had been compromised,” according to federal court records. She also contacted the U.S. Secret Service’s Orlando field office April 15.
Meanwhile, the company’s IT provider conducted an investigation that “showed multiple attempts were made to sign into (the CEO’s) email from various locations outside the United States, which were blocked due to (the company’s) protocols. However, there was one successful attempt to gain access to (the CEO’s) email from a location in Atlanta,” federal court records said.
“Once the successful sign on was made, malicious rules were implemented on (the CEO’s) email to reroute messages received by (the CEO). to the nefarious actors.”
The $1 million was tracked down to a Wells Fargo account belonging to a now-dissolved business called FlorerLife, according to federal records. Previously, the account was in the red $20, but after the $1 million transfer, FlorerLife’s Wells Fargo Bank account sent out 11 direct pay debits to different accounts at three banks between Feb. 14 and Feb. 24.
One account received three direct pay debits worth $657,988 from FlorerLife’s Wells Fargo Account. The account was tied to a residential remodeling company that had no website or online presence, according to federal court records.
“On February 25, 2025, JPMorgan Chase Bank was notified by Wells Fargo Bank that the three deposits totaling $657,988 were part of a BEC (business e-mail compromise). As a result, JPMorgan Chase Bank froze the remaining funds in the account and closed the account,” federal court records said. “On or about April 25, 2025, The U.S. Secret Service was able to seize the remaining funds in the account (approximately $515,706).”
The clues that point to the unidentified Orlando hospitality business being Margaritaville Enterprise? The scammed company, like Margaritaville Enterprise, is located on Turkey Lake Road in Orlando. It also fits the initials of “M.E.” in federal court records.
And the unidentified CFO is referred to only as “L.M.,” and the CEO as “J.C.,” in court records. Margaritaville Enterprises’ CFO is Laura McConnell, according to her LinkedIn page, and John Cohan is the CEO.
