ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A St. Johns County man was arrested by federal investigators on Tuesday and is accused of stealing nearly $700,000 from a Jacksonville construction company.
John Lucidi, 44, who previously served time in federal prison after pleading guilty in a 2011 multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme, now faces similar charges including wire fraud.
Recommended Videos
According to a federal indictment, Lucidi worked in marketing a sales at a Jacksonville construction company and had access to the company’s VyStar Credit Union account.
From December 2018 until June 2022, investigators said he defrauded the company out of about $660,000 by moving money from the VyStar account and a corporate American Express account he created fraudulently to his personal Square account.
Lucidi would then use the money for his personal benefit, according to the indictment.
At his arraignment, Lucidi pleaded not guilty to the charges.
He was released on bond and ordered to surrender his passport and report any new lines of credit.
It’s not the first time Lucidi has faced possible jail time.
In 2011, he pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering in relation to a multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud scheme.
Between 2005 and 2008, Lucidi allegedly found buyers, including family members, to purchase residences for inflated prices so that the buyers could get kickbacks at closing. Lucidi allegedly helped the buyers qualify for mortgages using false information. The scheme resulted in losses to the mortgage lenders of approximately $7 million. At or after the real estate closings, the buyers received kickbacks, typically between $30,000 and $50,000.
After he was released from prison in 2017, he also launched a new venture: Fader-Ice.
According to the website, John, the founder of Fader Ice, says he “likes to party!” and talks about how he created the flavored alcoholic drink.
“John started changing ingredients and finally had perfected his 12th flavor about six years later, only to have this dream project come to a screeching halt when he was contacted by the FBI and taken to a high-security prison for four years (for crimes that stemmed from trusting bad legal advice),” the about page states.
Lucidi also said on the site he launched a non-profit organization, called “Rub It On Your Chest” which produces merchandise, and more importantly jobs, for people who are released from prison and need a leg up.
A status conference is set for Jan. 21 and a jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2025.
