Marco Island man arrested in Ohio on grand theft charge

A man who claimed he was a broker is accused of bilking a long-time family friend out of more than $130,000.

Brian William Cramer, 33, who used to live in the 700 block of Hull Court, Marco Island, was arrested at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at his house in 6700 block of Bay Town East Drive in Cincinnati by a Cincinnati police officer, said Hamilton County (Ohio) Sheriff's Office spokesman Steve Barnett. Cramer remained in an Ohio jail pending Wednesday extradition to Lee County.

A series of events resulted in Deborah Workman waiting nearly five years for charges to be filed and an arrest made.

"It's been a long time coming," Deborah Workman, 58, of Naples said Wednesday of Cramer's arrest. "When the detective contacted me yesterday, I said: “Yes."

The case dates back to September 2005 when Deborah and Joe Workman of Naples decided to sell a Fort Myers Beach investment home. Joe Workman died Sept. 5, 2005 at the age of 72.

Deborah Workman, still grieving and taking care of her late husband's estate, didn't know anything about the Sept. 7, 2005, sale of the house until several months later. She learned about it from one of Cramer's friends.

The Workmans knew Cramer while they all lived in Ohio: he was friends with their son, Deborah Workman said. She had known him for about four years before the "sale" took place.

Lee County Sheriff's Office reports show the Workmans were selling an investment house in the 100 block of Egret Street on Fort Myers Beach and used Cramer as their broker.

On Sept. 5, 2005, Joe Workman died. In records dated Sept. 7, 2005, Deborah Workman's signature appears on closing paperwork for the house. The money from the sale, $132,841.39, was to be placed in escrow. She told investigators it was not her signature on the documents and she never received the money.

Deborah Workman said she didn't find out about the sale until March 2006 when she was told by a friend of Cramer's it had sold. She began contacting Cramer about the money, and he said it was in an escrow account.

"Deborah Workman gave the issue no more thought for several months as she had complete confidence and trusted Brian Cramer," Lee County Sheriff's Office Detective Mark Zellman wrote in his report. She began losing that trust when, "as time went by, it became increasingly difficult to reach him and ... eventually he stopped returning her calls...."

Several months later, after numerous attempts to get the money, she contacted an attorney to get things straightened out. "He dropped the ball," she said Wednesday, explaining the two-year gap before trying to report the theft to the Sheriff's Office on April 28, 2008. Sheriff's Office records show an offense report was not taken and she was told her only recourse was to file civilly.

She continued to try to recover her money, but was eventually told by an attorney to again report it to the Sheriff's Office. She did so and spoke with Zellman on May 22, 2009.

Zellman's investigation and the packet of information Workman gave to the detective, shows that the money was put into Cramer's business account listed under BC Properties LLC at a Wachovia bank and he was the sole signatory on it. A Wachovia employee told the detective the account was not an escrow account, but has been Cramer's business account since Nov. 18, 2004.

A wire transfer of the $132,841.39 into the account took place on Oct. 11, 2005. Within 10 days, Cramer issued checks totaling $107,900 and placed a wire transfer of $3,312 for a mortgage payment, records show.

In 2009, Zellman tried to call Cramer, but the number rang through to a facsimile machine. So, the detective sent a message through the fax machine, asking Cramer to call. He did on June 12, 2009, and admitted he acted as Workman's broker. That also was the last time the detective would speak with Cramer.

"Cramer stated he thought Deborah Workman had been paid and did add that he had helped her with funeral expenses for Joe," Zellman wrote. But, he never gave Zellman documentation to support his claims.

E-mail Valli Finney at vallimfinney@yahoo.com

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