First there were pirates and then there were corporate raiders. This article focuses on high-profile corporate “raider-maverick” and his self-imposed “exile” on the island of St. Kitts. Having left his Tampa “castle,” the business man says that he was motivated by ‘the love of the game’ rather than money. Here are excerpts:
Those around long enough in Tampa Bay might recall disgraced corporate raider Paul Bilzerian as the maverick who made millions and built a 10-bedroom castle with an indoor basketball court in Tampa’s tony Avila community.
Convicted of fraud in 1989, he was sentenced initially to four years in prison and ultimately served 13 months. In 1992, the Securities and Exchange Commission won a $62 million judgment from him for illegal stock manipulation.
Now the Wall Street Journal reports Bilzerian, 64 and with his trademark bushy mustache turned white, lives in voluntary exile on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. Meanwhile — decades later — a receiver for the SEC is still trying to close the case after collecting only about $3.7 million yet spending $8.6 million in the effort to do so, the Journal says. After repeatedly denying wrongdoing, Bilzerian was found in contempt in 2000 by a federal judge, who later ordered him to prison. [. . .] Still, his family continued to occupy the Tampa mansion through the decade as ownership of it shifted among various trusts and partnerships affiliated with his relatives and acquaintances.[. . .]
“Bilzerian now lives with his wife in St. Kitts, leading a lifestyle far removed from his days as a corporate raider,” the Journal reports. “The highest-profile member of his family now may be his 33-year-old son, Dan, a social media star for his videos about his playboy lifestyle who says he has made $50 million playing poker. Paul Bilzerian says he never cared about money. He was motivated, he says, by ‘the love of the game.’ ”
For full article, see http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/markets/years-after-62-million-judgment-paul-bilzerian-is-alive-and-well-on/2198173
See photo above and additional article “Former Corporate Raider Paul Bilzerian Keeps the SEC at Bay” (THE SHORT ANSWER, WSJ Blog) at http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2014/09/17/former-corporate-raider-paul-bilzerian-keeps-the-sec-at-bay-the-short-answer/
Repeating Islands 
I understand that you have no personal knowledge of any of the facts and have merely provided an excerpt from an article published by a newspaper. Unfortunately, the truth is seldom found in newspapers and almost never in what is said or written by the United States government. The real story of my case is quite different. The government lawyers and federal judges turned out to be the only real criminals involved in my case: they lied and browbeat and threatened others to lie or be punished; they stole money and property; and they trampled on the truth and the law at every opportunity. I could not have been more of a patriot, having volunteered to join the U.S. Army in 1968 when many others were doing what they could to avoid the draft; I volunteered for Vietnam when most others were doing what they could to avoid it; I volunteered to serve in the Central Highlands, where the most intense fighting occurred; and I was awarded the Bronze Star and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross for my service. I am not proud of that service today as I was surely on the wrong side of that fight but I mention it only to show my loyalty to the U.S. government at the time. My companies and I paid over $100 million in taxes BEFORE I was wrongly accused of the most trivial, chickensh*t charges ever brought — failing to disclose immaterial information in a meaningless 13D form filed with the SEC to advise the marketplace that I had acquired over 5% of a public company. I was innocent of the trivial charges against me, and the government has known that from the start. But the truth and justice are of no concern to federal government lawyers and judges. The United States government has become the world’s bully; an extraordinary liar capable of torture and murder. But it does a phenomenal job of portraying itself in a positive light while making its enemies appear to be the bad guys when, in fact, in many instances, nothing could be further from the truth. I understand you are a college professor. If you ever wish to spend the time, I will prove to you beyond any doubt, what the government has always known — I am and have always been completely innocent of the manufactured, trivial charges against me. It is the reason I have fought the government for 27 years and it is the primary reason the United States government has wanted to grind me into the dust – it cannot tolerate anyone or any country standing up to it. The only truly remarkable part of my case is that the U.S. government has not had me murdered before now because there is not an speck of morality or conscience to prevent it.
Dear Mr. Bilzerian:
It is true that I know nothing of the case and, indeed, it would be fascinating to hear the other side of the story. For now, we thank you for adding your feedback here.
IR