Lennar
In 2009, Minkow issued a report accusing major homebuilder Lennar of massive fraud. Minkow claimed that irregularities in Lennar's off-balance-sheet debt accounting were evidence of a massive Ponzi scheme. Minkow accused Lennar of not disclosing enough information about this to its shareholders, and also claimed a Lennar executive took out a fraudulent personal loan. In an accompanying YouTube video, Minkow denounced Lennar as "a financial crime in progress" and "a corporate bully." Lennar's stock plummeted in the wake of Minkow's reports. From January 9 (when Minkow first made his accusations) to January 22, Lennar's stock tumbled from $11.57 a share to only $6.55. Minkow issued the report after being contacted by Nicholas Marsch, a San Diego developer who had filed two lawsuits against Lennar for fraud. Indeed, the language of the FDI report echoed that used in Marsch's filings. One of Marsch's suits was summarily thrown out; the other ended with Marsch having to pay Lennar $12 million in counterclaims.
Lennar responded by adding Minkow as a defendant in a libel-and-extortion suit against Marsch. Minkow initially wasn't concerned, since he'd prevailed before in similar cases on free-speech grounds. According to court records, Minkow had shorted Lennar stock, buying $20,000 worth of options in a bet that the stock would fall. Even more seriously, he also bought Lennar stock after his FDI report, believing the stock would rebound after its dramatic plunge. Minkow initially denied doing this, only to be forced to recant when confronted with trading records. Minkow also forged documents alleging misconduct on Lennar's part, and lied about having to go to the emergency room on the night before he was first scheduled to testify. He also went forward with the report even after a private investigator he'd hired for the case couldn't substantiate Marsch's claims. In an unrelated development, it was also revealed that Minkow operated the FDI out of the offices of his church and even used church money to fund it—something which could potentially jeopardize his church's tax-exempt status.
On December 27, 2010, Florida Circuit Court Judge Gill Freeman issued terminating sanctions against Minkow in response to a motion by Lennar. Freeman found that Minkow had repeatedly lied under oath, destroyed or withheld evidence, concealed witnesses, and deliberately tried to "cover up his misconduct." According to Freeman, Minkow had even lied to his own lawyers about his behavior. Freeman determined that Minkow had perpetuated "a fraud on the court" that was so egregious that letting the case go any further would be a disservice to justice. In her view, "no remedy short of default" was appropriate for Minkow's lies. She ordered Minkow to reimburse Lennar for the legal expenses it incurred while ferreting out his lies. According to legal experts, it is extremely rare for a judge to issue terminating sanctions, since they are reserved for particularly egregious misconduct and have the effect of revoking a litigant's right to defend himself. Earlier, Freeman had been so angered by Minkow's behavior that she called him a liar in open court, a rarity for a judge. Lennar estimates that its attorneys and investigators spent hundreds of millions of dollars exposing Minkow's lies.
On March 16, 2011, Minkow announced through his attorney that he was pleading guilty to one count of insider trading. According to his lawyer, Minkow had bought his Lennar options using "nonpublic information." The plea, which is separate from the civil suit, came a month after Minkow learned he was the subject of a criminal investigation. Minkow claimed not to know at the time that he was breaking the law. The SEC had already been probing Minkow's trading practices. On the same day, Minkow resigned as senior pastor of Community Bible Church, saying in a letter to his flock that since he was no longer "above reproach," he felt that he was "no longer qualified to be a pastor." Six weeks earlier, $50,000 in cash and checks was stolen from the church during a burglary. Though unsolved, it was noted as suspicious due to Minkow's admitted history of staging burglaries to collect insurance money.
The nature of the "nonpublic information" became clear a week later, when federal prosecutors in Miami filed a criminal information charging Minkow with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Prosecutors charged that Minkow and Marsch (listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the complaint) conspired to extort money from Lennar by driving down its stock. The complaint also revealed that Minkow had sent his allegations to the FBI, SEC and IRS, and that the three agencies found his claims credible enough to open a formal criminal investigation into Lennar's practices. Minkow then used confidential knowledge of that investigation to short Lennar stock, even though he knew he was barred from doing so. Minkow opted to plead guilty to the conspiracy charge rather than face charges of securities fraud and market manipulation, which could have sent him to prison for life.
On March 30, Minkow pleaded guilty before Judge Patricia A. Seitz. Minkow's attorney, Alvin Entin, admitted that his client had acted recklessly, but had been "deluded and taken advantage of" by Marsch. He faced a maximum of five years in prison, as much as $350,000 in fines and penalties and $500 million in restitution. However, he has agreed to cooperate with the government in its probe of Marsch.
The Los Angeles Times obtained a copy of the plea agreement, in which Minkow admitted to issuing his FDI report on Lennar at Marsch's behest. According to the agreement, Marsch offered to have Minkow retract his report if Lennar paid him in cash and stock. It also said that Minkow's report triggered a bear raid which temporarily reduced the market capitalization of Lennar by $583 million. Minkow faced a minimum of 30 years in prison had the case gone to trial.
On June 16, Freeman ordered Minkow to pay Lennar $584 million in damages—roughly the amount the company lost as a result of the bear raid. Freeman's ruling stated that Minkow and Marsch had entered into a conspiracy to wreck Lennar's stock in November 2008. With interest, the bill could easily approach a billion dollars—far more than he stole in the ZZZZ Best scam.
On July 21, Seitz sentenced Minkow to five years in prison. However, he could serve as few as three years depending on how well he cooperates in the federal investigation of Marsch. In imposing the sentence, Seitz said that Minkow had "no moral compass that says 'Stop.'" Seitz also ordered him to pay Lennar $583.5 million in restitution—an amount that had been imposed a month earlier in the civil case. This could be a potentially ruinous amount for Minkow, on top of the money he still owes the ZZZZ Best victims and Union Bank.
Seitz had recommended that Minkow serve his sentence at Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama. However, on September 20, he was ordered to begin his sentence at Federal Medical Center, Lexington in Lexington, Kentucky.
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