Pitchman now federal fugitive: Federal authorities are looking for fugitive Angel Cruz, who led followers to try to 'evict' a Palmetto Bay Bank of America.
Mon. November 24, 2008; Posted: 01:11 AM 
Today’s top stocks. Click here Nov 24, 2008 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- BAC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Passionately and to help many of his followers, Angel Cruz championed an unorthodox business network for the downtrodden who he believed were bullied by a corrupt U.S. banking system.
A cooperative network, members of Cruz's "The United Cities Group" would benefit from goods and services from other members. Cruz even pushed his own currency, enlisting help from lawyers, real estate brokers and publicists.
Then he tried seizing a bank.
In July, Cruz, a score of followers and armed uniformed security guards surrounded a Palmetto Bay Bank of America. When police arrived, Cruz handed them an "eviction notice," demanding $15.25 billion from the bank, claiming it had failed to cash checks he had deposited.
Today he is a federal fugitive. Wanted for bank fraud .
His former followers, including the former mayor of Saginaw, Mich., feel dispirited and betrayed, believing Cruz swindled half-a-million dollars from about 600 people. But they have regrouped, vowing to salvage his concepts.
Cruz remains an enigmatic character, a devout Jehovah's Witness who went from one-time truck driver to self-proclaimed expert on transportation, infrastructure and finances.
In 2003, he sought investors to build a freight-only airport in Central Florida and a national rail line. Those projects fizzled.
But he found his footing founding The United Cities Group. The concept: a business -- say a used-car dealer -- would buy into the network, turning over its profits to the larger pool.
The dealer's showroom rent and employees' salaries would be paid from that pool, and he would enjoy access to other members within the network: doctors, insurance providers, gardeners, builders, utilities.
"He felt this was a way of making businesses, and goods and services, and houses affordable," said real estate lawyer Paul Woods, an ex-supporter. "It would prevent any kind of greed of the upper echelon."
The concept is not without precedent.
Local currencies exist legally in places like Ithaca, N.Y. (Ithaca Hours), Traverse City, Mich. (Bay Bucks), and the rural region of Berkshire, Mass. (BerkShares).
By local businesses and banks signing up to use a nongovernment currency, according to the concept, money and economic growth flourish within a small locale.
Against the backdrop of a fizzling economy, Cruz proposed a similar monetary network -- but on a global scale.
"The original idea was 28 states, then 28 countries," said Rafael Ulloa, a leader with the group, which has since cut ties with Cruz and renamed itself The International Consortium of Global Alliances. "Instead of enriching the rich, it gives back to the people."
Ulloa said of Cruz: "Along the way, he lost his path. Along the way, he decided it would benefit him."
Indeed, Cruz's ideas became more extreme. In 2007, he began printing his own private dollar at his Kissimmee home. It read: "In Jehovah We Trust."
He partnered with Josefina Calderon, who ran a social services agency called JC Laborales Consultadores, paying employees with TUC currency.
When banks began receiving deposits and utility bills paid with the phony checks, the U.S. Department of Treasury issued warnings. Secret Service agents began a probe.
Cruz turned his attention to Miami-Dade.
He envisioned infrastructure companies. With defense attorney Elio Vazquez, he created companies like Global Private Housing and Financing and Global Private Bridge & Highway Administration Group.
A two-time failed candidate for a Dade circuit court judgeship in the 1990s, Vazquez refused repeated calls for comment.
TIES DISAVOWED
Attorney Mario Garcia, a failed judicial candidate this year, also appeared in a promotional video identifying himself as offering legal help for the group. He later disavowed his association.
Cruz enlisted attorney Woods as a trustee for investment money that never rolled in.
In Miami-Dade, word of mouth led to town-hall style meetings touting The United Cities Group. Cruz posted videos on Youtube.com and launched a professional-looking website. El Nuevo Herald even published a profile.
The Cuban-born bilingual pitchman always made an impression. Meticulously dressed, Cruz wore suspenders and gold-rimmed glasses and used a wooden cane because of a bad hip.
"He was bouncing around all over Miami making presentations," said publicist Sherry Miller. "I was even told he had a ton of investors. He was meeting with printing companies and radio companies and television companies."
His draw included a "Lifeline" program that enticed homeowners to pay Cruz a fee for paying their mortgages for one year, then refinancing them at 4.5 percent interest.
"He's the best pitchman I've ever seen in my life. He can get up in front of a group of people and sell you the Brooklyn Bridge," Miller said.
Worthless TUC checks began bouncing across Miami.
The Bank of America scheme cracked Cruz's ambitions.
In May, Cruz cohort Bill Marrero opened three bank accounts with Bank of America in Orlando, according to federal court documents.
He later deposited a bogus check -- with a fake bank routing number -- for $8.5 million, authorities said. Six days later, Marrero deposited five phony drafts worth $5.8 million, they said.
Soon, Marrero and Cruz were phoning Gary Collins, a Bank of America corporate security executive, insisting "that the drafts were valid and the bank was obligated to honor them," court documents read.
On June 3, Cruz filed suit in Miami-Dade, demanding $15.25 billion in damages.
One month later, Cruz and his right-hand man, Gladstone Gardner, walked into the Palmetto Bay police station to request officer presence for an eviction in five days. He gave cops a notice signed by "Judge Carlos Hernandez."
On July 8, before 7 a.m., Cruz, some 20 black-clad followers and 10 hired uniformed security guards briskly surrounded the bank, 18341 S. Dixie Hwy. Their cars blocked the entrance to the parking lot and drive-through.
Cruz presented Palmetto Bay Lt. Greg Truitt with the "court order," complete with an official-looking TUC seal.
"He was telling me that I had no authority. He was professional but very assertive," Truitt remembered.
Cruz and Gladstone were arrested on trespassing charges.
After posting bond, Cruz issued press releases and posted online videos of the failed seizure. Bank of America was granted an injunction in federal court.
He filed hundreds of documents touting TUC's $357 billion net worth.
At one point, Marrero -- who is not an attorney -- tried representing TUC.
"I purchased their rights in this matter for 21 silver pieces," he told Judge Chris M. McAliley on Aug. 15 in a conference call, before insisting: "My position is the court does not have jurisdiction."
One week later, prosecutors issued arrest warrants for Cruz and Marrero on seven counts of bank fraud. Cruz has filed a motion requesting his case be transferred to "The Supreme Court of the United Cities Group."
PLEADED GUILTY
Marrero has since pleaded guilty in exchange for cooperation against Cruz. He will be sentenced Dec. 18.
For now, agents continue to hunt for Cruz. Gladstone and Calderon are gone, too.
Cruz's ex-supporters have reorganized as the ICGA under the leadership of Gary Loster, the former mayor of Saginaw, Mich.
They want to make the program more realistic -- using U.S. dollars.
They have also asked the state attorney general's office to investigate Cruz and Calderon for stealing an estimated $500,000 from 600 people under the sham "Lifeline" program.
"What they want is to salvage the program," said spokeswoman Miller.
Also in the works, for people in danger of losing their homes in the housing crunch, the International Consortium of Global Alliances plans a "Home-Aid Concert" and festival.
Cruz is not invited.
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