Federal prosecutors allege James “Andy” Card used money intended for the construction of the Mishawaka Fieldhouse to buy a waterfront home in Florida.
INDIANAPOLIS — Federal investigators have filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit to seize the multimillion-dollar Florida home of a central Indiana real estate developer.
Court documents allege James “Andy” Card, owner of Indianapolis-based Card & Associates, used money from the construction of the Mishawaka Fieldhouse in northern Indiana to purchase a $6.625 million home in Marco Island, Florida. United States attorneys filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit on Thursday, July 16, attempting to seize the home, which is owned by Card and his wife, Martha.
According to the filing, Card’s company is responsible for building the Mishawaka Fieldhouse in 2023 and 2024 at an estimated cost of more than $38 million. Prosecutors say the facility was funded by the city of Mishawaka through TIF programs and a state READI grant.
Investigators say in 2023, Card’s company filed disbursement claims worth more than $5 million. They say Card claimed the money was for legitimate construction expenses, but instead, court documents say Card used more than $2 million of that funding on the waterfront home in Florida.
Attorneys allege Card received $2,875,554 from a disbursement claim on April 17, 2023, which was placed in an account for “Mishawaka Fieldhouse, LLC.” Eight days later, $1.8 million was moved from that account to a second account for “Mishawaka Fieldhouse, LLC.” On May 5, 2023, $2,432,048.65 was collected from another disbursement claim. That same day, $2.5 million was moved to the second Mishawaka Fieldhouse, LLC account.
On July 21, 2023, $2.1 million was transferred from the second Mishawaka Fieldhouse, LLC account to an account for Card & Associates. That same day, $2.1 million was moved to a “James A. Card” account. On Aug. 7, 2023, $1 million was moved from the James A. Card account to an account which included James and Martha Card as authorized signers. That same day, $1 million was sent to Ronald Webster, described by prosecutors as the settlement agent for the purchase of the Marco Island property. On Aug. 30, 2023, the closing date for the property, $1,220,508.89 was sent from the James A. Card account to Webster.
“The funds used in purchasing (the Marco Island property) were proceeds of the Mishawaka Fieldhouse fraud scheme,” attorneys wrote in the filing.
Mortgage records show James Card gave his wife two gift letters to use to close on the property, including $1 million on Aug. 7 and $1,220,508.59 on Aug. 30, 2023. Prosecutors claim the transactions in the gift letters were “designed to conceal and disguise the nature, source, ownership, location, and control of both” the initial down payment and additional money.
13News did not find any criminal charges filed against Card, either federally or in Indiana. We’ve reached out to Card for a response to the allegations, but have not yet received a response.
In addition to the Mishawaka Fieldhouse, Card & Associates is behind several large-scale sports facilities in central Indiana.
City of Mishawaka statement
The city of Mishawaka shared the following statement about the investigation:
“The City of Mishawaka has recently become aware of allegations involving fraudulent activity that resulted in the unauthorized diversion of funds from the Mishawaka Fieldhouse project.
At no time did the City have knowledge of this fraudulent conduct. The City followed its established policies and procedures and exercised appropriate due diligence based on the information available at the time.
Because this is an active investigation, the City is limited in what it can publicly disclose at this time.
The city is committed to protecting public resources and maintaining the trust of its residents. We will pursue every legal remedy available to recover any funds that were unlawfully used and will work with law enforcement and all appropriate parties as needed moving forward.
As this matter remains under investigation, the city will have no further comment at this time.”
