FBI agents search county's two most expensive homes
Businessman bought them for $6.3 million
A young businessman who owns a company with the shadowy-sounding name of Phantom Holdings One made two mysterious, record-setting purchases of spectacular luxury homes here last year.
Now, he is the subject of a mysterious federal investigation.
Federal prosecutors and FBI agents were saying little Wednesday about why agents executed search warrants at the two most expensive homes ever purchased in Erie County. The homes are on Boston State Road in Hamburg.
And they weren’t saying anything about Michael Wilson, the 22-year-old Cleveland businessman, whose Phantom Holdings One owns the two homes.
As of late Wednesday, no charges had been filed in the probe, which authorities said involved an alleged investment scam.
But Wilson’s attorneys, Paul J. Cambria and Robert L. Boreanaz, said the young man is an honest, hardworking businessman who — to their knowledge — has done nothing wrong.
“He’s a family man . . . He runs an investment firm that has been very successful in a short period of time,” Boreanaz said. “I know that there are people who have been jealous of his success and are trying to take him down.”
Acting U. S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter confirmed that the searches of the homes are related to an FBI investigation, but she would not provide details.
“We executed search warrants, which is an investigative tool, but we expect no arrests today,” said Buffalo FBI spokesman Earl P. Gould.
Teams of agents spent much of the day searching for evidence at the two homes.
Wilson’s company purchased the homes at 6523 and 6553 Boston State Road for a total of $6.3 million, the most ever paid for homes in Erie County.
The house at 6553 Boston State is 16,000 square feet and sold for $3.3 million. The other house is 15,000 square feet and sold for $3 million. The two homes sit on 126 acres, which feature ponds, wooded areas and lawns.
Before Wilson’s spending spree, the most money ever paid for a one-family home in Erie or Niagara county was $1.4 million.
Wilson’s name and his connection to the homes had never been revealed publicly until Wednesday.
His attorneys said Wilson lives in one of the homes and his mother lives in the other.
Wilson’s neighbors didn’t know what to make of the sight of about a dozen FBI and other police cars arriving in the exclusive neighborhood at about 7 a. m. Wednesday.
Four neighbors spoke to a reporter Wednesday afternoon, as agents continued the search at 6523 Boston State. None of the neighbors was willing to be quoted by name.
None of the neighbors knew Wilson, but all said they were curious about him because of the news reports of last year’s extravagant home purchases.
“There was just a team of police cars and a SWAT vehicle. The FBI was going up and down the street. It was something,” said one woman who lives near Wilson’s homes.
“We have no reason to believe [Wilson] has done anything wrong,” Cambria said. “He’s involved in investing and has a very good track record.”
Why did a Cleveland businessman decide to pay big money to buy homes in a Hamburg neighborhood?
Wilson knows people in Western New York, loves the region and was attracted by its extremely reasonable home prices, Boreanaz said. He added that Wilson bought one of the homes for his mother.
“I think homes like the ones he bought are a bargain in our area,” Cambria said. “You could never buy a home like that, at those prices, in any other area of this country.”
Despite his apparent wealth, Wilson has run into some financial problems recently. A check of records in the Erie County clerk’s office showed that two liens were filed against his company by Nest Industries, an interior design company in Buffalo.
“We did file the liens because he owes us $96,000 for furniture for the two houses,” said Brooke Pelc, an interior designer who runs Nest Industries.
dherbeck@buffnews.com and jrey@buffnews.com
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