Federal agents raided the home and business of developer James Andrew “Andy” Card on July 16, an FBI spokesperson confirmed to IndyStar.
Public Affairs Officer Chris Bavender said via email the agency conducted a “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the two locations, but said she could not provide additional details.
Card did not respond to phone calls and emails from IndyStar. A spokesperson said Card had no comment.
The raid took place on the same day that the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana submitted a filing for an asset forfeiture for a four-bedroom, six-bathroom waterfront home belonging to Card and his wife, Martha, on Marco Island, Florida, about 20 miles south of Naples.
Forfeiture documents allege that Card fraudulently used money from the city-financed Mishawaka Fieldhouse project to help pay for the purchase of the $6.6 million waterfront home. He has not been charged with a crime.
Card, 62, of Westfield, is the owner of Indianapolis-based Card & Associates, which develops large-scale sports complexes and wellness centers. It also owns and operates several fieldhouses across Indiana. It developed and constructed the Pacers Athletic Center in Westfield.
Court records say the scheme took place over a two-year period from October 2022 to October 2024. The city of Mishawaka hired Card’s company to develop the $38 million indoor athletic facility with hardwood courts and turf fields. Funding for the project involved tax increment financing and an economic development grant.
As developer, Card signed an agreement that, with the exception of his fee, the public funding would only be used for the city project. But the forfeiture documents say Card didn’t honor that agreement. Instead, he made multiple requests for disbursements to cover construction expenses and then transferred those funds into personal accounts.
“The representations in the disbursements request were materially false,” court documents say, “and made with intent to defraud the City of Mishawaka and others, as Card and the Business did not in fact use all the funds disbursed … as payments or reimbursements for legitimate project costs.”
Card’s wife, Martha, was the sole applicant for the mortgage on the Marcos Island home. To purchase it, she needed a $1.5 million down payment and roughly $1.2 million at close. The monies from the Mishawaka Fieldhouse Project covered those costs, according to prosecutors.
Mortgage records for the home contain two letters from Card gifting the money to his wife, according to court documents. In the first letter, he gifted her $1 million on Aug. 7, 2023 ― a portion of the initial down payment. In the second, he gifted her another $1.2 million. Both letters stipulated that no repayment was expected in return.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also said he caused his wife to engage in transactions involving fraudulently-derived funds.
In all, roughly $2.2 million from the mortgage deposit was money from the Mishawaka Fieldhouse project, prosecutors said. Court documents say Card sought to conceal the transactions, but they were traceable through wire transactions.
In the statement from the Executive Director of Development and Governmental Affairs Matthew Lentsch, the city said it recently became aware of the allegations and had no “knowledge of this fraudulent conduct.”
The city followed established policies and exercised appropriate due diligence with the information available at the time, the statement said.
“The city is committed to protecting public resources and maintaining the trust of its residents,” city officials said. “We will pursue every legal remedy available to recover any funds that were unlawfully used and will work with law enforcement and all appropriate parties as needed moving forward.”
Contact IndyStar investigative reporter Alexandria Burris at aburris@indystar..com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @allyburris.
Contact IndyStar reporter Kristine Phillips at (317) 444-3026 or at kphillips@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: FBI raids home, business of Westfield developer
Reporting by Alexandria Burris and Kristine Phillips, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alexandria Burris and Kristine Phillips, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
