Florida Developer Tied to CU Loan Mess Found Drowned

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. – Frank D’Alessandro, the southwest Florida developer who partnered with three now-failed credit unions in a multi-billion dollar land speculation was found floating in the ocean Monday, the victim of an apparent accidental drowning. D’Alessandro, 52, who was staying in an oceanfront home while visiting his ailing mother, was in the habit of taking nighttime kayak trips in the ocean, according to police. His orange kayak was found overturned miles away Monday morning, five days after his mother notified police he was late for a lunch date. Despite an intensive air and sea search conducted by the Coast Guard, D’Alessandro’s body was not found until a passing boat crew spotted it floating in the sea. The Florida developer was a partner in D’Alessandro and Woodyard Commercial Realtors, which helped originate a plan to sell pre-leased homes to thousands of investors that were financed in partnership with Norlarco CU, Huron River Area CU and New Horizons Community FCU, which have all been taken over by NCUA after the failed real estate speculation project fell apart. D’Alessandro’s firm offered closing, financing, property management and procurement of tenants for the pre-leased properties. He and his firm are named as defendants in dozens of suits brought in state and federal court claiming, among other things, the scheme violated federal securities laws. The conservatorship of the three credit unions–New Horizons has been sold of piecemeal by NCUA–has left the federal regulator with as much as $500-million in residential construction loans in Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, with dozens more credit unions who bought participations in the loan pools also exposed.