Ex-West Palm Club Owner’s Properties Face Forfeiture
Dion De Cesare with 900 North Congress Avenue (Google Maps, Broward County, Getty)
A former owner of a West Palm Beach hangout who is accused of running an illegal gambling and prostitution ring could end up losing $1.6 million in real estate if he’s convicted.
Dion De Cesare, who previously owned Renegades restaurant and nightclub, has been slapped with multiple charges, prompting prosecutors to seek the forfeiture of nine of his properties.
They include houses in West Palm and Riviera Beach and five units at the Presidential Golfview condominium complex that sits along a golf course in West Palm, court records show. Federal authorities also are seeking forfeiture of a pair of Palm Beach County commercial buildings from which De Cesare is accused of running a prostitution ring, according to a Nov. 17 grand jury indictment.
De Cesare, either on his own or through an affiliate, amassed the properties for just over $1.5 million at various times since 2002, according to property records.
A push for the real estate forfeiture is a common tactic by the feds, who often turn their sights to properties tied to allegedly criminal schemes to recoup illicitly gained funds. In South Florida, home to a booming condo and single-family home market, residential properties have popped up over the years in multiple criminal schemes, including the Odebrecht and Venezeulan state-run PDVSA oil company scandals.
De Cesare is accused of running a sports-betting venture through the website, which uses a Costa Rica-based server, according to the indictment. Among his co-defendants are Mark Paolantonio and Kelly Lizza, who allegedly helped De Cesare launder proceeds from gambling.
Also charged with laundering proceeds from the sports-betting are Aundre Aarons and Josh Peasley. As a Truist bank (formerly called BB&T) employee, Aarons allegedly opened bank accounts in the names of Paolantonio and Lizza that were then used to aid De Cesare in cleaning the gambling proceeds, according to the indictment. Peasley allegedly opened betting accounts for others, collecting the proceeds.
Separately, 52-year-old De Cesare also is charged with failing to pay in full federal employee taxes from 2011 to 2013 — and then again from 2015 to 2016 — for Renegades staff members, the indictment says. Once the IRS started to dip into his accounts to collect what was owed (an allowed practice), De Cesare texted his business partner to transfer money from one of his accounts to another, the indictment says.
From 2008 to 2020, De Cesare also operated “houses of prostitution” from his property at 177 Manchester Lane in unincorporated Palm Beach County and the adjacent building at 180 North Military Trail, according to the indictment. He is the only one charged in the alleged prostitution ring.
The other properties the feds seek to forfeit are De Cesare’s five-bedroom house at 3235 Embassy Drive in West Palm and his four-bedroom home at 1043 Big Torch Street in Riviera Beach, court records show. The condos are at 1850, 1900, 1950 and 2050 North Congress Avenue.
On Nov. 21, Judge Robin Rosenberg ordered a “restraining” of the properties, meaning they can’t be sold, transferred to another owner or encumbered with a mortgage.
Attorneys for De Cesare, Aarons, Peasley and Lizza have not been appointed. The attorney representing Paolantonio did not immediately return a request for comment. Reached by phone, Aarons declined comment, and a man who answered a number listed for De Cesare hung up. Phone numbers for Peasley and Lizza could not be found.
De Cesare and Aarons are scheduled for an arraignment on Tuesday, and Paolantonio and Lizza on Dec. 13.
