DAVIE, Fla. – The signs for a new “Falls of Davie” development advertised luxury townhome living in the heart of Broward County: a private elevator, high-end finishes and a rooftop summer kitchen were just some of the planned amenities. It was all available just five minutes away from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and starting at $1.3 million per unit.
Prospective buyers put down deposits of about $100,000 to get their hands on the properties before they went under construction. But authorities say “The Falls of Davie” was all a scam.
Dennis Wendell Jones, 52, and Woodard Ira Warren, 56, both of Fort Lauderdale, are accused of swindling multiple victims, using a company called “Omni Development,” and spending the money on bills, food, entertainment — and even to pay restitution to victims one of the men defrauded in previous scams.
According to arrest warrants, the pair advertised “their” new development, located at 5650 Davie Road, despite having no way of building it. They didn’t own the property, authorities said, and they had no site plan applications nor permits.
Images from Google Street View taken in June show Omni proudly advertising the new development outside the forested site.
The warrants state a Pennsylvania woman reported the scam to the Davie Police Department after she had sent $320,000 to Omni for construction of a new townhome, having signed contracts with Woodard and “Tyler Jones,” who was actually Dennis Jones.
Police said the woman, who originally found the property listed online, flew south to Fort Lauderdale to meet with the duo; Warren went over the build process and what the home would look like.
But the woman became “concerned” when she asked for town of Davie permits and Warren couldn’t produce them, the warrant states. She stayed in contact with the pair, police said, and continued to get “excuses and new build dates.”
She and her real estate agent would eventually discover that there were no permits or site plans for the development.
Police said an investigation into Omni’s bank accounts revealed the pair took in at least $1,022,300 in deposits. They said all of the other victims had similar stories to the Pennsylvania woman and have tried to get their money back to no avail.
They said they also found outgoing wires, including $163,500 for a “Rolex purchase” and $250,000 to Warren’s personal account, where he purchased three cashier’s checks with the notes “restitution.”
The warrant states that the money is likely to go to prior victims of Jones, who’s already had past convictions for fraud schemes. They also found money spent on food, entertainment and payments to numerous Cash App, Zelle and PayPal accounts.
Police said research into the “Falls of Davie” website, which was still active as of Tuesday, showed that the photos of the properties were actually sourced from a residence sold in Delray Beach back in 2021.
One South Florida resident said he almost fell victim to the scam.
“Me and my family were thinking about purchasing a house there and things happen,” Sal Nagib said. “I’m happy I didn’t go forward with my decision, especially after hearing what happened. It’s a sad thing. It’s a sad thing. People are figuring out anything for scams nowadays. You just gotta be careful.”
Authorities arrested Jones on Nov. 14 and arrested Warren on Sunday. Both are facing charges on first-degree grand theft, money laundering and obtaining property by fraud.
A judge set Jones’ bond at $300,000, but he remains held in the North Broward Bureau jail in Pompano Beach, having violated his probation for past grand theft and money laundering convictions.
Warren was being held in the Broward Main Jail on a $75,000 bond.