Spies, Lies & Developer's Ties

The President of a company trying to develop Wisteria Island, conspired with a multi-state felon and violent fugitive to spy on those who spoke in opposition to the developers' plans.

That fugitive - now jailed for allegedly nearly killing a woman - struck a deal with developer Roger Bernstein, to secretly investigate people who objected to his development, in a desperate attempt to dig-up anything that might be used to discredit those who spoke.

When he didn't find enough to discredit those objecting to Bernstein's development, this convicted felon did what any good convicted felon would do, he just fabricated information.

He then went so far as to recommend a para-military supposed tough-guy whom the Developer might find useful.

Arnaud Girard, his wife Naja, Cliff Hartman and Scott Fraser knew their civic involvement wouldn't be appreciated by developer Roger Bernstein and the Walsh family members of F.E.B. Corporation that own Wisteria Island. What they didn't know, was that the penalty for speaking-up was to have Bernstein secretly inject this violent felon into their everyday lives.

What these people said at the podium, helped convince elected officials to vote against Bernstein's development. Thus began the Developer's clandestine campaign to track the lives of those who dared speak against his project.

This secret undercover affair began to unfold when one of its key players, Dennis Walsh, was jailed on charges of kidnapping and nearly killing a woman.

Many may know Dennis Walsh as the $1-A-Dirty-Joke-Guy street performer from Duval Street.

This March, Walsh was living aboard his boat anchored near Wisteria Island, where the alleged kidnapping and near murder occurred. After his incarceration, he asked a friend to retrieve some documents from his boat.

His friend, Patrick, found the documents Walsh wanted and a few more as well.

Found were letters to Walsh from Roger Bernstein; most on F.E.B. Corp. letterhead, usually arriving in envelopes from Bernstein's law firm located in Coral Gables.

When Patrick confronted Walsh at the jail with the newly discovered information, a somewhat remorseful Walsh confessed to spying on people, including a City Commissioner, for Bernstein and his corporation.

Since Walsh didn't have a cell phone, Bernstein communicated via these letters.

“Thank you for your letter of September 20,” Bernstein replied in a letter back to Walsh dated Sept. 29, 2010. “You raise some very interesting ideas and I think we can work with you on some basis. Please call me on my cell phone 305 986-[xxxx].”

The series of written exchanges, notes and subsequent admissions disclosed that Bernstein engaged Walsh as a spy upon the Girards, Hartman and Fraser.

One of Walsh's first missions was to gather information on Scott Fraser who'd successfully spoken-out against the development. Fraser was known only to Bernstein as having once been the campaign manager for City Commissioner Clayton Lopez, so that's where Walsh started.

Walsh liked Lopez, even considered him a friend. More than once, Lopez - lending a helping hand to someone in need - had driven Walsh to the hospital, waited on him, and driven him back to the city.

"I felt bad about that," Walsh said from the visiting room at the County Jail. "Clayton Lopez had really helped me out a couple of times, and here I was secretly turning on him."

"I remember him approaching me one day," Lopez said of Walsh's surprise visit. "I thought he might need another ride to the hospital, but he only made small talk and wanted to know about Scott's sailboat. Scott is a good friend of mine, but I don't know anything about his boat, so in that regard I was rather useless to Dennis."

"I was rather relieved when I learned Clayton didn't know the name of Fraser's boat or where it was anchored," Walsh said from jail. "I like Clayton Lopez, but being able to walk my dog on Wisteria Island was more important to me than anything."

That was Walsh's compensation for spying for Bernstein and F.E.B. Corporation, access to the now exclusive Wisteria Island to walk his dog.

Fraser lucked-out, because absent more information, Walsh moved on to others on Bernstein's hit-list. Cliff Hartman wouldn't be so lucky.

Hartman was out-of-town when Walsh – a convicted burglar - dinghy’d up alongside Hartman’s boat. Walsh seemed startled when he found Hartman’s girlfriend Andrea Quigley aboard.

She challenged Walsh, questioning why he was approaching Hartman’s boat knowing it was at a time when no one would likely be aboard.

“I just happened to be there that day, which I rarely do when Cliff isn’t there,” Quigley said. “There wasn’t a dingy tied off the back, so it looked like no one was home.”

After recovering from his surprise at finding someone aboard, he told Quigley he’d return someday with Hartman’s “Head on a stick,” and then he’d return to “take care of her,” Quigley said. For a guy now facing felony sexual assault and kidnapping charges, Quigley said she didn’t take this to be an idle threat.

Walsh then fired-off a highly fabricated and grossly libelous report on Hartman to Bernstein.

“Unbelievable!” Hartman said after reading the lengthy report Walsh prepared on him for Bernstein and F.E.B. Corporation.

“All I did was stand up at a few commission meetings and talk about the birds and endangered plants that live on Wisteria Island,” Hartman said.

Having filed his report with Bernstein, Walsh moved on to the Girard family.

Arnaud and Naja Girard, who now own a home in The Meadows, lived and worked for decades on their boat anchored off Wisteria Island. They eked-out a living helping boat owners maintain their vessels, saving them when endangered, recovering them after severe storms and operating a water taxi.

Both Girards spoke at public meetings in opposition to F.E.B. Corporation's proposed development.  That's why Bernstein specifically singled them out to Walsh.

Libelous comments redacted.

“While we were working on our zoning issues we met a wall of opposition. One of the main opponents was Arnaud Gerard and his wife,” Bernstein wrote in his Sept. 29 letter to Walsh. “What do you know about his activities?” Bernstein asks later in his letter.

In his report to Bernstein/F.E.B. Corp., Walsh fabricated two pages of supposed intelligence concerning the Girards.

Walsh elaborates on various methods to discredit the Girards, aimed at preventing them from ever again speaking publicly about the project as Bernstein continues pursuing the development of Wisteria Island.

A portion of his report to Bernstein was actually entitled: "Potential avenues to discredit Gerard in the court of public opinion."

"At first, I was just offended," Arnaud said upon learning the Developer sent a spy into his midst, then he learned of Walsh’s criminal history. “I thought it was really reckless of Mr. Bernstein to associate himself with a violent criminal and then point that criminal in the direction of my wife and my family.

"Maybe Bernstein didn't know about Walsh's criminal history, but the fact is that Bernstein is an attorney," said Girard. "What kind of attorney doesn't know enough to check-out the person he's engaging to spy upon others. It took us less than an hour on google to find out how violent this guy is. Maybe Bernstein didn't know, or simply didn't care; the first would be highly negligent, the latter just downright frightening."

Walsh’s record of criminal convictions in Florida, Virginia and South Carolina, include crimes of multiple thefts, trespass, burglary (2), discharging raw sewage, and battery for strangling a woman on Southard Street in 2008.  He’s presently facing charges of felonious sexual assault, kidnapping and another strangling charge resulting from the March 2011 incident. He remains a fugitive from Virginia regarding probation violations for convictions in that state.

Among Walsh’s suggestions, was that Bernstein engage the services of a local ex-military man who doesn't like Girard.

"A final resource to explore is [name edited] @ 305-[tel. # edited]," Walsh wrote in one of his reports to Bernstein.

"I am on excellent terms with [this guy]. He is ex-military, solid as they come. He runs the crews that secure the cruise ships, among other things. There is no love lost between the two. Feel free to mention my name should you contact [him]," Walsh wrote to Bernstein.

When contacted about his being mentioned in one of Walsh's reports to Bernstein, this man - who asked not to be publicly identified - said there was only a little truth in what Walsh wrote.

He's never served in the military, although he's done some work for the military.  He has no personal qualms with Arnaud Girard, they're more like business competitors. He's done some past work for the owners of Sunset Key, and has strong opinions about whether the island should be developed and would share those opinions with anyone.  However, he said he wouldn't act as someone's enforcer. Bernstein, he said, never followed-up on Walsh's referral, as he's never received a call.

Quigley recalls Walsh hovering nearby as opponents to the development discussed what to do.  She didn't trust him.

"While we were working on our flight-count for the endangered white-crowned pigeons living on Wisteria Island, Walsh was always approaching asking lots and lots of questions about what we were doing,” Quigley said of Walsh’s attempts to get close to F.E.B. Corporation's opponents.

While all this subterfuge was being undertaken by Bernstein and Walsh, the very selling points Bernstein was pitching in favor of developing Wisteria Island, were being violated by his very own agent, Walsh.

Developing the island is the only way to prevent it from being trashed with derelict vessels, old boat motors, raw sewage and being over-run by criminals, was Bernstein’s usual pitch to officials. All the while, Walsh was keeping derelict vessels on the island and working on various boat motors. If there were criminals lurking nearby, it was the multi-state felon and fugitive from justice… Bernstein’s very own secret agent – now county jail inmate - Dennis Walsh.

Bernstein was interested in learning which boaters were and weren’t pumping out their sewage. Yet Bernstein needn’t have looked very far, for on February 9, 2011, Bernstein's own secret agent for F.E.B. Corporation was charged with dumping raw sewage overboard next to Wisteria.

"Is there absolutely no low to which this Developer will stoop," Fraser said of Bernstein's covert efforts on behalf of F.E.B. Corp.

"People who dare speak at public meetings in opposition to big developers, risk having their lives disrupted, reputations sullied, employment threatened and goons sent to visit their homes. This isn't the America I know; this sounds more like old Russia," Fraser said.

"What's next... are they going to start making people disappear," Fraser wondered. "I know that sounds a bit paranoid and far-fetched, but when there's literally hundreds of millions of dollars at-stake, it makes you wonder how far some people might be willing to go.

"Add that to the fact that their main man is currently facing charges for the kidnapping and near murder of a woman, and suddenly the far-fetched starts to seem plausible."

F.E.B. Corporation's officers & Board of Directors

Note: The Developers' next bite at the apple is scheduled for May 25, 2011, when they appear before the County in Marathon in yet another attempt to gain increased development approval for Wisteria Island.

Most Recent Mug Shot

Roger Bernstein Addressing County Planning Board about Wisteria Development Proposal

Other corporate affiliations of Roger Bernstein in Florida only

Wikipedia history of Wisteria Island