Wealthy Benefactor of Welfare Family Is Facing Charges

MIAMI —  A millionaire businessman who promised to bankroll a new life for a welfare mother of five faces criminal charges and a $1.4-million judgment in a bank fraud and is not free to spend his money, attorneys said Thursday.

James Gisclair had offered to buy a house for Anita Hunter and her family and provide her with a job, a college education, a car and a nurse to care for the children.

But court records show that a subsidiary of Capital Bank won a civil judgment against him after alleging in state court that Gisclair defrauded the lender out of $1.3 million. The judgment includes interest on that amount.

The criminal charges stem from the civil case, according to Chief Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard Gregorie, who filed charges against Gisclair two weeks ago in federal court accusing him of making a false statement to a bank.

Gisclair said Wednesday that he made his promise to Hunter because he felt like “nobody was doing more than lip service to make a difference” about poverty.