Rep. Matt Gaetz and his fiancee say a chunk of money they planned to sink into a yacht vanished when they tried to wire it to a boat broker.
A spokesperson for Gaetz said federal authorities are investigating after the congressman and his fiancee, Ginger Luckey, were “targeted by malicious actors” as they sought to buy the yacht from a broker in St. Petersburg, according to NBC-affiliate WFLA.
The spokesperson said it was Luckey who was paying for the boat but that both of them “were the target of a financial crime.”
GAETZ ASSOCIATE JOEL GREENBERG PLEADS GUILTY
Brett Harris, who owns the company that handled the transaction, said he sold the boat to a different buyer last Friday, according to the report.
The report also quoted the spokesperson as saying that “federal law enforcement is both aware of and actively pursuing” an investigation into the situation.
While the story does not indicate how much money was involved in the transaction, the 41-foot boat was most recently listed for $155,000.
A man who owns a yacht slip across from where Gaetz and Luckey boarded their prospective purchase in St. Petersburg said he saw and recognized the congressman when the two arrived to survey the boat, about a week after it was first reported that the Justice Department was investigating Gaetz as part of a sex-trafficking inquiry.
“He was on the phone the whole time while they were doing the survey,” Jon Golly told WFLA. “And he stopped and said hi to Nancy and I sitting out in front of our boat. It was definitely him.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to Gaetz’s office to confirm the report but did not immediately receive a response.
