UPDATED Sept. 27, 1 p.m.: Self-storage developer Daniel Joseph Touizer was arrested and is facing federal prison charges for allegedly scamming millions of investors across the country, the Sun Sentinel reported.
In the last 12 years Touizer allegedly schemed 150 people out of $19 million after convincing them to invest in gems, insurance products and self-storage units. About $7 million in investments was withdrawn from his account, between 2010 and Touizer’s arrest last Wednesday, according to the Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Cruz.
Touizer told investors he didn’t personally take a salary and that investors’ money would be used for sales and marketing, according to the government affidavit, the Sun Sentinel reported. The affidavit also said he would allegedly promise investors a guaranteed return, and that his companies had regulatory approval.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale called him a “significant economic danger to the community” and ordered him held without bail, according to the Sun Sentinel.
His lawyers denied that he has hidden assets.
Touizer’s Fort Lauderdale-based Wheat Capital Management is building several storage facilities in South Florida. Wheat Capital recently broke ground on construction of a self-storage building in Margate, and has two other South Florida self-storage projects underway in Pembroke Park and Miami. The projects are due to be completed in 2018.
If convicted, Touizer faces 14 years to about 18 years in federal prison. Arraignment is set for the end of October, according to the Sun Sentinel.
His company Wheat Capital specializes in the acquisition and development of self-storage buildings on urban infill sites, often in partnership with self-storage real estate investment trust CubeSmart. [Sun Sentinel] – Amanda Rabines