Submitted by Susan Hardee Steger
According to Steve Siegel, prosecutor for the state attorneys’ office, Furman Clark was convicted on April 8, of one count of an “organized scheme to defraud.” The charge is a first degree felony punishable up to 30 years in the Florida State prison system. Bond was revoked and Clark is currently in the Nassau County Jail. Sentencing is scheduled for April 24.
Siegel told the Fernandina Observer that between January of 2008 and September of 2008, Clark approached two couples about various land related deals. One involved a parcel of timberland in the Big Bend area of Florida (Dixie and Lafayette Counties), and the other was land for a residential subdivision and car dealership in Ocala.
Limited Liability Corporations were established by Clark to receive the couples $250,000 investment. Evidence presented to the jury showed Clark used the money for his personal use shortly after receiving the funds.
The couples initially contacted the Fernandina Beach Police Department (FBPD). After an preliminarily assessment, the FBPD contacted the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and the State Attorneys’ Office for further investigation.
The investigation resulted in Clark’s arrest at the former Days Inn and Shoney’s Sadler Road location on February 2, 2011 at 1:13 p.m. The Fernandina Beach Rotary meets on Wednesday and Clark was known to be a Rotarian.
It took the jury one hour to render a verdict after a two day trial.
“It was a difficult case with a very complicated fact pattern,” said Siegel “It was a very unusual case for prosecutors; not our normal type of case. The the state is grateful for the jury and its hard work.”
Clark was exposed in a scandalous Folio Weekly article written in November of 2001 by Anne Schindler entitled, “The Secret Life of Furman Clark; How a convicted killer con artist reinvented himself and nearly conquered Fernandina Beach.” According to the article, Clark spent nine years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter for the death of Julian Singman described as a Washinton D.C. “political heavy hitter.” He was released from prison in 1996.
In 2001, Clark arrived in Fernandina Beach as co-founder of Fields Clark Holdings, and purchased a former bank building located at 402 Centre Street. The partnership with William J. Fields, according to a Florida Times Union report, was dissolved shortly after Clark’s arrival.
April 9, 2014 12:02 p.m.