When the police showed up, it wasn’t because of an April Fool’s prank, though one Florida man may have wished it was. Jeremy Franklyn Demers, owner of Gulf View Windows and Doors (GVWD), was arrested on Tuesday, April 1, by the Bradenton Police Department and charged with using ill-gotten gains to finance a life of luxury.
Overview
Demers took control of GVWD after his brother’s cancer diagnosis early in 2023. According to the Better Business Bureau, GVWD was a door and window dealer founded in 2015 in Bradenton, Florida.
Reports indicate that once Demers took control of the company, orders for building materials began to go unfilled, says detective Michael Carpenter of the Bradenton Police Department. That was of no concern to some contractors, including Buky Construction and Eason Construction, which gave Demers the benefit of the doubt. They continued to place orders, as they had been long-term customers and understood Demers was going through hard times.
By October 2023, Buky had placed more than $100,000 in orders and received nothing in return. Eason had placed 50% down on products, more than $675,000, and also received nothing in return. Carpenter, who provided the narrative in the complaint for the arrest warrant, wrote that Buky and Eason subsequently had to pay additional money to release liens levied by E.S. Construction.
Carpenter explains that during his investigation into the missing money, he discovered that Demers had five bank accounts: two for GVWD, two for other LLC companies and a personal account. According to his report, all three of the LLCs—GVWD and the two others listed as owned by Demers—had the same business address, and four of the five accounts list Demers as the only person on the signature accounts. One account for GVWD also lists his late brother, Jordan Demers, who died of cancer.
Carpenter learned that “there were large deposits being collected into the account for GVWD, then large transfers into Demers’ personal account. There were also numerous payments into American Express, SoFi Financial, Bank of America, 5/3 Bank and Frankcrum, a payroll company out of Clearwater, Florida.”
Just a Little Off the Side
Carpenter alleges that “Demers continuously moved finances between numerous different accounts through multiple different financial institutions during his ongoing course of action to conceal the nature of his monetary gain, which was used to travel, gamble and provide living expenses over a prolonged period. His actions were done during and after collecting money from Buky and Eason Construction and failing to provide any product or reimbursement.”
Carpenter explains that Demers continued to collect money and sign contracts with Buky and Eason and never provided any product. During the scheme, Demers allegedly obtained $792,382.94 between the two construction companies.”
In additional information provided in the complaint for an arrest warrant, Carpenter wrote that he had “reviewed the bank statements and determined [that] $543,682.60 was transferred from accounts held by GVWD into Frankcrum payroll in a seven-month period. Multiple different accounts showed Demers collected money from the payroll company. It can be summarized that payments into payroll were made from one company, and periodic payments were collected from other accounts to hide the origins of where the money came from.”
A preliminary court date has been set for May 16, 2025.