Madeira Beach Man Accused Of Operating Yacht Ponzi Scheme

MADEIRA BEACH, FL — Pinellas County Sheriff's detectives have arrested 42-year-old Matthew Taylor after a long, complicated investigation into a Ponzi scheme involving a yacht brokerage.

Taylor, owner of Savage Yachts LLC at 225 140th Ave. E., Madeira Beach, was arrested Friday morning after being accused of running a scheme in which he stole an estimated $1.5 million from investors.

The investigation began in February after the sheriff's office received a grand theft complaint.

The victim said he sent Taylor $450,000 toward the purchase and repair of an 86-foot Azimut yacht in July 2018. The victim became suspicious when he didn't hear from Taylor about his purchase or receive a refund by December.

Over the next few months, Pinellas detectives received three more complaints against Taylor.

A second victim purchased an Azimut 62S yacht from Taylor in March 2018 and gave Taylor $20,214 for electronics upgrades on the vessel in September 2018. Then, in November, Taylor convinced the victim to upgrade his yacht to an Azimut 62E and the owner gave him an additional $669,955, but never received the upgraded yacht.

The third victim was an investor who said he conducted numerous transactions with Taylor over the years. In March 2018, the investor gave Taylor $30,000 to purchase boat engines but detectives could find no evidence that the purchases were made. Additionally, Taylor never paid the investor for proceeds from boats they repaired and sold together. The third victim's financial loss totaled $257,000.

In July 2017, a fourth victim wired Taylor $30,000 to purchase three boats to repair and sell, but did not receive any proceeds from the purchases. In the summer of 2018, Taylor convinced the victim to sell a Grady White boat he purchased from Taylor in 2013 for an estimated $57,988 profit. Instead of handing over the profit from the sale, Taylor persuaded the victim to purchase another boat, which he never received. The fourth victim's financial loss totaled $123,870.62.

Detectives concluded that Taylor operated the business as a Ponzi scheme in that he would take money from investors and promise a high return. He would then take money from boat buyers or other investors and pay back the initial investors. Eventually, Taylor ran out of new deposits or investors, and was unable to pay back initial investors or deliver boats to customers.

As a boat broker, Taylor was also required by law to place all deposits for vessels into an escrow account that complied with Florida law. Instead, Taylor treated the account as if it was a business operating account and a personal checking account.

The website for Savage Yachts states the company has been in business for 29 years, earning a reputation for personal attention to all its clients.

Detectives presented the case to the Pinellas-Pasco County State Attorney's Office, and a warrant was issued for Taylor on one count of first-degree scheming to defraud, four counts of money laundering, four counts of grand theft involving a victim over 65 years old and one count of escrow depository violation.