SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The attorneys for the two Central Florida men accused of participating in a scam ring that stole hundreds of millions of dollars from seniors across the United States said the Altamonte Springs business was not knowingly involved in any criminal activity.
Tim O’Dell and John Timmerman appeared in front of a Seminole County judge again on Friday, who tried to give them a collective $35 million bond.
The attorneys argued it down to $500,000, saying Texas authorities had not sent over the warrants, and they did not know what the men were being charged with.
The Collin County, TX sheriff said O’Dell and Timmerman received the stolen gold and melted it down to make it untraceable, an accusation that shocked the store’s employees and longtime suppliers and customers.
Dylan Howller, who represents Timmerman, said deputies made a mistake in their investigation.
“They buy and sell gold, they do their best to follow the regulatory processes to make sure that it comes from legitimate places,” Howller said. “Someone somewhere else was… doing things that my clients had no idea about, and now they’ve just stretched too far in terms of what law enforcement has done.”
Howller said it wouldn’t be unreasonable for a gold refinery to have millions of dollars worth of product in-house, but he said all of that came from legitimate customers – who now have no way of getting access to their items.
“They’re working as fast as they can to ensure that all of their clients who have entrusted them with these things get their money back and that it’s not wrongfully taken,” Howller said.
Timmerman was in the process of bonding out Friday. The two men will be due back in Florida court on March 31. The proceedings in Texas are separate and little information will be available until the warrants are received.
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