Mysterious $820K wire transfer uncovered as seniors try to collect judgements in civil investment fraud case

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) — Newly obtained civil court records reveal a stunning twist in a high-stakes paper trail involving a Fort Myers financial advisor accused of draining local seniors of their life savings.

Documents obtained by WINK Investigates expose a massive $820,000 wire transfer executed out of a corporate account tied to insurance agent Michael Watkins. The recipient of the lump sum was Watkins' now-former defense attorney, Scott Faden—a local lawyer whose license to practice law was recently suspended by the Florida Bar following repeated client complaints, which WINK Investigates covered last month. 

• RELATED: Ft. Myers attorney sits down with WINK Investigates after bar suspension, 17 client complaints.

Watkins is facing over a dozen lawsuits from former clients who claim he diverted their money to one of his corporate entities Radiant Private Investment LLC and did not invest their money as they intended. Eight of the cases have already received judgments ordering Watkins to pay more than a million dollars collectively. 

State records also show he did not hold the proper license to sell such securities. 

Case Statistics: The Watkins Investigation

Matthew Schwartz, an investment fraud attorney representing more than a dozen local seniors fighting Watkins in court, says the timing raises immediate red flags.

"We're chasing the funds," Schwartz told Chief WINK Investigates Reporter Chorus Nylander. "We know that there was a wire transfer from the Radiant account to Mr. Watkins’ former counsel Scott Faden in November of last year, and we've learned that there's no longer any funds in that account. It seems to me that it was done in an effort to avoid judgment creditors."

Faden recently attempted to defend the massive transaction to a judge, during a hearing related to collecting the judgments in three of the lawsuits, claiming the lump sum actually belonged to multiple unnamed third parties. Faden did not respond to requests from WINK Investigates for comment.

Records show Faden withdrew as Watkins' counsel after being handed a three-year suspension by the Florida Bar effective since February. The discipline resulted from 17 unrelated client complaints. In an off-camera interview last month, Faden stated, "This isn't a case where I just took people's money and didn't do work... things piled up, and it got to be a lot, and I was having some personal issues, a little bit of health issues."

For the families who trusted Watkins with their retirement, the financial damage has translated into intense personal hardship.

Jeffrey Martin’s 93-year-old mother is among the people suing Watkins. He says she lost almost her entire life savings—over $800,000—after trusting Watkins with her finances. Speaking to WINK Investigates previously, she described the emotional toll: "There’s a lot of sleepless nights... crying doesn’t help."

Speaking with Chorus Nylander last week, Martin says the ongoing battle to trace the money has severely impacted his mother's well-being.

"It's just sickening to watch this," Martin said. "Her health has continually declined, and I swear it's definitely from the stress, the mental problems that this has caused. It has taken years off her life, no doubts about it."

Martin’s mother has not yet received a judgement in her lawsuit. He believes they eventually will but witnessing what is happening to others, he believes any victory on paper will mean very little. 

"Oh, this could very, very well be a very hollow victory," Martin added. "For gosh sakes don’t just slap his wrist, he needs to be incarcerated because he’s done a lot of damage to people."

Legal documents detail how the alleged scheme bypassed conventional regulatory oversight. While Watkins was registered to sell life, health, and variable annuity insurance in Florida, he held no license to sell securities.

According to plaintiff filings, Watkins pitched victims on what he claimed was a "safe" bond fund. He allegedly directed clients to make investment checks payable to "Fidelity Investments" but instructed them to leave the memorandum lines entirely blank.

Watkins would then allegedly fill in the blank lines with the account number for his own entity, Radiant Private Investment, LLC, routing the money away from genuine investment portfolios and directly into accounts he controlled. To keep clients from discovering the diversion, the lawsuits allege Watkins generated falsified account statements.

Next Steps in Court

Attorney Matthew Schwartz tells WINK Investigates that the immediate focus is keeping pressure on the financial paper trail. The legal team plans to file “aggressive new discovery requests” to legally force a disclosure of exactly where the $820,000 went after it was moved out of Faden's trust account.

WINK Investigates will continue tracking this case as court proceedings develop.