Billionaire Real Estate Developer Faces Law Enforcement Scrutiny For Allegedly Filing Phony, Post-Breakup 'Revenge' Construction Liens, Then Threatening Foreclosure Against Ranch, Home Belonging To Woman Claiming To Be His Ex-Lover

In West Palm Beach, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• Wellington mega-developer and president of the Palm Beach Polo & Country Club, Glenn Straub, is under criminal investigation, according to the Broward State Attorney’s Office.
  
  A spokesman for the office declined to comment on the nature of the investigation.
  
  Palm Beach Circuit Court records filed in March show Straub’s company, Palm Beach Polo, Inc. is suing a woman who claims to be an ex-girlfriend of Straub for failing to pay more than $77,000 for construction and improvements done on two of her properties.
  
  The company has filed two liens and is threatening foreclosure on Jessica Nicodemo’s Wellington and Loxahatchee residences.
  
  Nicodemo, 33, claims the liens are fraudulent.
  
  She also claims that there was never an agreement or expectation of payment for the work.
  
  “[Nicodemo] was in a romantic relationship with Glenn Straub,” court filings said. “[Nicodemo] was led to believe that there would be no charge for services.”
  
  “It’s a joke,” Straub, 70, said of the criminal investigation Wednesday night. “Anybody can make a complaint, and the state attorney’s office has to go ahead and pursue it.”
  
  His attorney, Craig Galle, said by telephone: “It’s improper to institute, or threaten to institute, criminal proceedings to affect a civil matter. Here, no crime occurred, and this is a simple civil dispute over money.”
  
  Nicodemo’s lawyer, Elizabeth Parker, said: “We look forward to the evidence coming out in court to prove Ms. Nicodemo’s claims.”
  
  Straub has a litigious reputation with a trail of lawsuits to his name, records show.
  
  His latest legal skirmish is a suit his company filed Aug. 9 against another woman, Ashley Maguire, a former Mrs. Florida beauty pageant winner.
  
  The company is suing Maguire for $250,000.
  
  Maguire, 33, failed to live up to “a working arrangement” as repayment for more than $100,000 the company paid to lease her a home at the polo club and provide her with luxury vehicles, according to the lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
  
  “[Maguire] claimed to have strong ties in Wellington with wealthy equestrians and wealthy business executives with whom she could use her beauty and charms in assisting with selling expensive country club memberships, sponsorships and promotions,” the lawsuit said. “Defendant never commenced a single day of work for, or on behalf of, plaintiff.”
  
  Maguire, who was in the midst of a divorce, did repay a $6,200 cash advance, as well as $35,000 given to her for clothes and accessories, the suit said.
  
  “This is a classic example of the powerful abusing the judicial process and wasting judicial resources to attempt to create leverage in a demented love triangle,” Maguire’s attorney, Michael Pike said.
  
  “What they’re trying to do is put me on the defense rather than paying what we are due,” Straub said. “I’m a guy who doesn’t run scared.”

Source: Mega-developer Glenn Straub under criminal investigation, authorities say.