A bankruptcy attorney trying to sort out the finances of an Orlando businessman accused of running a $328 million Ponzi scheme has subpoenaed financial records from newly elected Apopka Mayor Nick Nesta, court records show.
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Nesta, a real estate agent elected last month to the city’s top post, previously represented Christopher Delgado, the accused fraudster, in some real estate deals and received campaign donations from him and his cryptocurrency firm, Goliath Ventures.
Goliath declared bankruptcy in March, not long after Delgado, its CEO and founder, was arrested on federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors say Delgado defrauded Goliath’s investors of millions of dollars and used their money to buy luxury cars, watches and several high-end homes — including one in Winter Park in which Nesta’s firm said it made the sale.
Records relating to those transactions and donations were subpoenaed last week by Goliath’s new leaders who are trying to recover money the company spent under Delgado in order to pay back investors. Bankruptcy filings show there could be up to 1,500 victims owed up to $500 million.
A spokesperson for Nesta said Tuesday that the mayor would be unable to respond to questions about the subpoena, including specifics about the real estate deals, because he had not yet been served.
The subpoena for Nesta’s records, filed in court May 6, asks for records relating to compensation he received from real estate deals with Delgado. The subpoena does not mention if Nesta will be asked to return any funds he received.
But Goliath in recent weeks has issued subpoenas to a large number of charitable and community organizations asking for records relating to money received from the company or Delgado. The attorney seeking the information has said that if donations were made with investors’ money that Goliath fraudulently spent, “the law provides for their return for the benefit of all victims.”
So far, one group that was subpoenaed, the Orlando Economic Partnership, has agreed to give $190,000 back to Goliath, court records show.
Delgado was an Apopka resident at the time of his arrest, though as a condition of his bond he is now living in comfortable confinement at his $8.5 million, seven-bedroom, golf course mansion in tony Isleworth. That is one of the four homes prosecutors say he bought with other people’s money.
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Nesta, while running for mayor in March, said in a Facebook post that he had represented Delgado in some real estate deals. The post included few details about Delgado’s purchases and did not mention the number of homes, their locations or their sales prices, and it did not disclose how much money Nesta made from the deals.
“As part of my work in real estate, I represented Christopher Delgado to buy and sell homes through normal arms-length transactions,” Nesta wrote on Facebook. “Like any home purchase, those sales were completed through licensed lenders and required full lender approval of the home loans.”
In the post, Nesta said he wanted to address questions circulating about his relationship with Delgado and accused his political opponents of using the relationship against him in the mayor’s race. One of his opponents, Christine Moore, later criticized him for working with Delgado, though it seemed to have little impact on the race, as Nesta beat Moore in a landslide.
An Aug. 1 Instagram post by Nesta’s real estate business shows it was involved in the sale of one of the other homes prosecutors say Delgado wrongly bought with his investors’ money: A $3.2 million, six-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Winter Park. Property records show Delgado bought the home one day before the post was made.
“SOLD – Congratulations to our buyers, official new owners of this stunning estate,” the post read. The names of the buyers were not mentioned.
Nesta also wrote on Facebook that Delgado had donated to one of his prior campaigns.
Delgado, his wife Andie Delgado and Goliath Ventures each separately donated $1,000 to Nesta’s city commission campaign in January 2024, according to campaign finance records.
That year, Delgado posted on Facebook that he supported Nesta’s campaign. Nesta was reelected to a seat on the commission that year and served until he became mayor.
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