Seth Bloom being held under more than $3 million bond in county jail
On June 30, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution announced that it was charging Seth Andrew Bloom, 34, of 1350 Main St., Unit 304, in Sarasota “with orchestrating a multi-county construction fraud scheme” that resulted in at least 13 victims in seven counties losing more than $3 million, the Sarasota Police Department reported.
“During Mr. Bloom’s arrest and the execution of a search warrant, investigators also uncovered a large cache of firearms and ammunition,” in spite of the fact that Bloom, as a convicted felon, is prohibited by law from possessing weapons and ammunition, the news release points out.
The Probable Cause Affidavit for Bloom says he was arrested at 8:17 a.m. on June 25 at the intersection of Fruitville Road and North Washington Boulevard, which is in downtown Sarasota.
“This fraudster took advantage of Floridians, and this criminal behavior won’t be tolerated,” Uthmeier said in the release. “Thanks to the outstanding work of our statewide prosecutors and the Sarasota Police Department, a convicted felon is off the streets, a massive illegal arsenal is dismantled, and Florida families are safer for it.”
As of July 2, Bloom remained in the Sarasota County Jail under total bond of more than $3,356,421.
He was ordered held on $1 million in bond on one count of Defrauding to Obtain Property valued at $50,000 or more; another $1 million on a count of Grand Theft of $100,000 or more; $1 million on a count of embezzlement involving his construction company’s funds; $300,000 on the count of possession of weapons or ammunition by a state felon; $28,210.50 on one count of communicating to defraud involving property valued at $300,000 or higher; and $28,210.50 on a forgery count, his Sheriff’s Office jail booking records show.
On July 1, his attorney filed a form with the 12th Judicial Circuit Court in which Bloom entered a plea of “Not Guilty” and waived arraignment. He is being represented by The Baez Law Firm in Orlando, that document said.
“This case is a testament to the hard work and coordination of our detectives and partner agencies,” Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche said in the news release. “What started as a financial crime investigation led to the removal of a significant number of illegally possessed firearms from our community. It’s another example of our department’s commitment to protecting victims and pursuing justice at every level,” Troche added.
“As part of this joint investigation by the Sarasota Police Department, the Office of Statewide Prosecution, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF),” law enforcement personnel seized the following, the release notes:
- 64 firearms (14 handguns and 50 rifles/long guns).
- More than 10,421 rounds of ammunition in more than 14 different calibers.
- Computers, business records and additional evidence reported to be linked to the fraud.
“This remains an active and ongoing investigation,” the Police Department stressed in the release. “Anyone who believes they may have been defrauded by Seth Bloom is urged to contact the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division” at 941-263-6070, the release says.
Criminal history and the new affidavit
A Sarasota News Leader review of the criminal history of Bloom, as shown in the records maintained by Karen Rushing, Sarasota County clerk of the Circuit Court and county comptroller and her staff, found 48 cases.
He has been issued numerous traffic citations since July 2007, involving — for examples — speeding, failure to obey traffic control devices, running a stop sign, having a passenger under age 18 in a vehicle who was not wearing a seat belt, and multiple red light camera violations, with six of the latter in just 2017.
The Probable Cause Affidavit related to the charges against Bloom in Sarasota County comprises 15 pages, the News Leader found.
Among its details, that document explains that on April 10, The Kolter Group and two individuals with the company, which is based in Delray Beach, confirmed for a Sarasota Police Department civilian investigator that Bloom “provided the lowest construction bid to perform on-site ground clearing and lot development work on a new residential community project.” Kolter’s website notes that it is the developer of the 20-story Ritz-Carlton Residences at the Quay Sarasota on the Sarasota bayfront.
Bloom was identified in the affidavit as the owner of Calderoni Trucking LLC, which did business as CC Civil.
The CC Civil website says, “Based in Sarasota Florida, CC Civil takes pride in delivering projects on budget, on time, and the best quality at competitive prices. We take pride in our work and stand behind it long after the project is complete. Our goal is to deliver exceptional value to our clients and we strive to achieve this by delivering the highest quality workmanship, attention to detail, and exceptional customer service.”
The website adds, “With a trusted and experienced team of in-house crews, CC Civil will cover every aspect of your site work needs without having to take the time to hire and manage subcontractors. With CC Civil, you’ll know you’re getting better control of schedule and quality.
“We utilize the latest in technology from plans take-offs, survey equipment, machine control and production reporting and recording. We make sure your project will be closed out in an efficient manner,” it says.
Records maintained by the Florida Division of Corporations say that Calderoni Trucking’s address is 2 N. Tamiami Trail, Suite 314, in downtown Sarasota, the News Leader learned.
Further, the affidavit continued, on Dec. 19, 2023 and Feb. 29, 2024, BK-KL Lowery Hills LLC “entered into two related contracts with CC Civil, to provide labor, material, supervision, and equipment to mobilize all equipment to complete construction of [a project] and to provide demolition and clearing of any existing curbs, light poles, fences, trees etc. … at a total estimated cost of $3,695,000.02.”
The affidavit also lists payments that The Kolter Group made to Bloom “so he could rent equipment, purchase materials and cover labor costs.” Kolter’s banking records showed the following payments, for a total of $3,053,368.80, the affidavit continued:
- $1,608,962.05 on May 17, 2024.
- $907,584.48 on June 10, 2024.
- $396,822.27 on Sept. 18, 2024
- $140,000 on Nov. 13. 2024.
“CC Civil initiated work at the site,” the affidavit said, “but as the project progressed, The Kolter Group was notified that a lien had been filed for non-payment to a supplier, Linder Industrial,” for about $29,000, on Nov. 6, 2024, which involved CC Civil.
When The Kolter Group made Bloom aware of that lien, the affidavit added, “he claimed he would resolve the matter.”
Then a second lien was filed on The Kolter Group for non-payment to another supplier. The amount this time was $719,000. Again, Bloom was involved in that situation, and — once more — “he claimed he would resolve the matter,” the affidavit pointed out.
“Bloom continued to take draws of money from the contract to continue working on the project and even threatened The Kolter Group with civil action after [it] considered withholding funding to Bloom for failing to pay vendors,” the affidavit said.
Later, on March 20, 2024, the affidavit continued, “Bloom signed a ‘Release of Lien’ verifying his sub-contractors had been paid, which based on the liens being filed for non-payment, was a false statement written by Bloom.”
“To date,” the affidavit said, “The Kolter Group legal department has not been able to resolve the matter and is considering civil action against Bloom and CC Civil.”
A subpoena served on the CC Civil business account with 1st Source Bank found that Bloom was listed as the director of that company, the affidavit added. Further, it said, the bank confirmed that money had been deposited into the company’s account as follows:
- $1,608,962.05, on May 30, 2024.
- $907,584.48, on June 13, 2024.
- $396,822.27, on Sept. 23, 2024.
In early May of this year, the affidavit noted, The Kolter Group provided the Police Department investigator with copies of text messages and email communications with Bloom, which “detailed Kolter members expressing frustration with Bloom and attempting to resolve issues through management only to receive excuses and false promises from Bloom.”
Further, the affidavit said, law enforcement and public database searches “confirmed and identified Seth Bloom as a defendant in multiple pending civil lawsuits for non-payment in jurisdictions throughout the state of Florida, demonstrating a systematic, ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud one or more persons, or with intent to obtain property from one or more persons by false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises or willful misrepresentations of a future act.”
The affidavit included details of issues involving 10 other companies, which the narrative provided as further indications of fraud on Bloom’s part.