Man Accused In Fraud Finds Money For Bond

TAMPA, Mar 29, 2008 (Tampa Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- Paul Robert Gunter, the man at the center of an alleged $100 million stock fraud scheme, is one step closer to getting out of jail on bond.

U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun on Friday entered a conditional order of release. If all the conditions are met, Gunter could be released Wednesday, said Frank Louderback, Gunter's attorney.

At a hearing in federal court Friday, Louderback told McCoun that Gunter has made progress on securing a $1 million bond through property and cash pledged by family and friends.

Earlier this week, McCoun continued a release hearing to give Gunter more time to work out the details but said he would consider his release only if $1 million is secured for the bond. Numerous family and friends showed up Tuesday to make pledges toward the bond. However, some of the property was tied up in probate. Those issues have now been resolved, Louderback said.

Gunter, along with his daughter, Zibiah Joy Gunter, 25, were arrested this month and charged by federal authorities with involvement in a scheme to "hijack" dormant publicly traded companies. The two then touted those companies as established businesses that had sold shares previously, authorities say.

The Gunters sold shares of stock that were "virtually worthless," federal authorities say.

More than 1,000 investors from the United Kingdom are thought to have purchased the stock, which was sold through a boiler-room operation in Spain.

The government contends that Gunter is a flight risk and does not want him released, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachelle DesVaux Bedke told the judge Tuesday.

Bedke said investigators continue to find more assets in overseas accounts. She said the case, previously thought to involve $70 million, is now up to $100 million, "and counting."

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at sbehnken@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7804.

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