Article Courtesy of  The Palm Beach Post

By Jose Lambiet

Published March 10, 2006

Palm Beach Gardens socialite and nursing home mogul Elizabeth Fago appears to be branching out. And in the process, she may hurt the types of elderly residents her businesses serve.

Fago, her son, Paul Walczak, and several of their PBG-based Home Quality Management top employees have set up corporations that quietly are buying condos in a Singer Island building.

A dozen owners, however, won't sell. So Fago's crew, now controlling the building's board, aims to slap those left behind with a 20-fold increase in monthly fees.

"This is a hostile takeover," says holdout Babette Easley, who could end up paying the homeowner association $4,000 a month if the measure passes next week. "I've filed a complaint with the state. The takeover of the board was illegal. And the fee hike is being done without the proper notices. They're trying to squeeze us out. This is a working-class building with many elderly people."

No one at HQM commented about Fago's plans. But with developers eyeing Singer Island, Easley says she suspects that Fago wants to transform her five-story, 88-unit building into another luxury high-rise.

According to records, the apartments at the Condominiums On The Intracoastal, 2525 Lake Drive, are being gobbled up by firms with names that are variances of the words "Island Yacht Club." Those companies are, in turn, owned by EPJ Ventures, with Fago, a tight pal of gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, and Walczak as officers. There's also Azzura LLC, owned by big-deal WPB cosmetic dentist Richard Lazzara.

The same records show Island Yacht buying one-bedroom digs for between $150,000 and $300,000. The blitz started late last year.

With Fago's companies owning about 59 percent of the building, a new board was installed last month. Four of the seven members are Fago associates who don't live in the building, Easley said, including Walczak; Fago's other son, Joey Fago, 23; and HQM's real estate honcho, Seth Olney. The babyfaced Olney, 25, is the board's vice president.

One of the new board's actions, Easley said, was to push a proposal to beef up the 37-year-old building's cash reserves to $4 million and renovate, which would boost monthly fees. The board may consider the plan next week.

Said Barbara Bartley, 76, who needs oxygen and could end up paying $12,000 a month in fees for her XL unit: "I am worried about losing my home."