The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 35

V''-Vr''se-''WW-'V'-r' sunHo2 isl2 inmVhAiiilHtKALD n-C Gables Builder Probed By Real Estate Panel of the 'most prolific homebuilders in Dade County history Priestes has declined to re-t telephone calls since the first articles appeared in The Herald about his success with FHA Director Pelski The Miami Review a daily legal newspaper reported last Monday that Priestes sold one house in South Miami Heights three times through what a title company called clerical errors Priestes has also declined comment on that report ital to enter the homebuilding industry through the sale of his hearing aid firm here That firm was sold to the Hush Noise Corp of Batavia 111 manufacturers of a simple tuning fork enclosed in a plastic shell Federal agents seized hundreds of the devices in Florida last July saying they work For unknown reasons Priestes bought the company back from Hush Noise Corp He did not sell his interest again until Nov 11 1971 long after he had become one 10 AM 5 PM 6 Florida Eludes Officers for 8 Years BALANCE ALL 4 WHEELS ROTATE 5 TIRES BRAKE ADJUSTMENT REPACK FRONT WHEEL BEARINGS FRONT END ALIGNMENT SUNDAY ONLY ALLS smogs IFOR OtlLV then It must have been at least six months ago that I heard the last one that he was in a motel south of In March 1966 authorities thought they had The Fox cornered Three men robbed a bank in Greene County Mo using a car with Texas plates registered to a The three bandits traded shots with a highway patrol trooper in a running gun-fight More than 100 officers later thought they had the trio surrounded in a patch of woods but when they closed in the bandits had vanished THAT STORY plus the dwindling number of tips about Clouser have led some authorities to believe The Fox is dead liked to be in the spotlight too much to settle down in hiding said Deputy Chief Runnels in Orlando been heard of for four or five years he could be Other officers who knew Clouser also expressed doubt that a man with his love of flamboyant surprises and newspaper headlines could take a new name and settle down to a straight life But FBI agents are not about to stop looking for the senior member on their Most Wanted list Agents keep an eye on major sports events in the Southeast knowing that the former Golden Gloves boxer and football player thrived on athletics as much as women he had three wives and eluding authorities Agents mingled with the crowd at the Senior Bowl football game at Mobile Ala In 1968 after receiving a tip that The Fox planned to take In the game They find him All Work Performed by Expert Mechanics but he was captured at his house in Knoxville Tenn hours before agents said he was' to be placed on the list An FBI bulletin said Clouser was wanted for two armed robberies and two burglaries committed while he was at large CLOUSER was returned to Orlando and in February 1964 was adjudicated insane and committed to the state mental hospital at Chattahoochee bragged to the deputies on the way to Chattahoochee how he convinced the psychiatrists he was said Chewning was able to fool Less than two months after he was committed to the minimum security institution The Fox and three others escaped They made their way into Georgia and forced two hospital employes at knifepoint to drive them to Columbus The hostages were robbed and released and their car later was found abandoned near Montgomery Ala The three other escapees soon were captured but The Fox scampered away to points unknown SINCE THEN tips about the whereabouts of the mysterious Clouser have sent FBI agents swarming to Atlanta Philadelphia Ontario Canada and back to Central Florida got all kinds of information after he first recalled Capt Moore was sometimes seen In three different parts of town at the same time the tipr Sv4 slowed down considerably since WIDE HIGH FERFORMAHCE firestone with DUAL RAISED WHITE STRIPES AND "500'' NUMERALS Discontinued Tread Design former Price $4075 Only E78-14 (735-14) ALL SIZES PRICED FOR CLOSE OUT BEST For Darts Comets Duster mivt Valiants UUI" Mavericks FAMOUS presto tie Deluxe Champion Top quality tire at Low low prices WHITEWALLS tions involving FHA apartment projects in both Jacksonville and Miami districts Their investigation is incomplete And In Tampa a Senate subcommittee was told last year that Vanguard Construction Co of Tampa obtained mortgage committments instantly while other projects were delayed Vanguard officials denied charges of favoritism A ST PETERSBURG housing consultant attorney Robert Renfrow a critic of certain FHA programs charged that he had been arbitrarily blackballed by the Tampa FHA office independent investigation by Sen Lawton Chiles substantiated charges Most of the current investigative activity however involves the Miami FHA office where the FHA itself and the FBI have raised questions about the selection of priestes over more experienced higher-rated builders of lucrative FHA contracts In its limited-scope investigation the real estate commission will attempt to determine whether any member of the John Priestes Homes Inc sales staff holds a state license to sell real estate i Only John Priestes himself as president can legally participated in any way in the selling of his houses without a license they said sales manager retired Col William Coleman confirmed that he has never registered as a state-li- censed salesman He also said he knew of no licensed salesmen on the Priestes staff ONLY THING I can say working directly for the -builder-owner no need (for a license) as far as Florida law is Coleman said Coleman said he obtained that legal opinion from of the instructors in a real estate course at Miami-Dade junior Attorneys for the com-jhission a state regulatory ygency said the president of a homebuilding firm or some pther designated officer can personally sell houses without a license Anyone else they said must pass examinations pay required fees and obtain a license An unlicensed salesman who plays any role even discussing prices with prospective owners faces prosecution and a possible six-month jail term John Priestes and Tom Priestes his older brother and junior partner in business ventures became the fourth-largest homebuilding firm in Dade County last year through FHA generosity The Herald reported earlier this month that the erstwhile hearing aid dealers obtained nearly half of the lucrative FHA contracts in the first 10 months of 1971 to build subsidized housing here During the same period the confidential rating of construction quality graded the Priestes firm at the minimum acceptable standard The Priestes brothers fared better financially They reported a combined net worth of more than $17 million in November 1971 according to documents obtained by The Herald They also attracted the attention of FHA and FBI Investigators who are currently examining the Miami FHA office and the policies of suspended Director William Pel-ski Pelski and his deputy received 30-day disciplinary suspensions for accepting unusually generous loans to buy homes here They have also been ordered to refinance their mortgages at more conventional terms Before entering the homebuilding industry on a small scale in mid-1969 the Priestes brothers were principally engaged in repairing retailing and manufacturing hearing aids The Priestes brothers apparently entered the South Florida hearing aid market in 1965 using a mobile van marked No although it was their only van and promising free hearing tests They had ceased similar operations in Ohio a year earlier under pressure from Better Business Bureaus sati Mrs Angela DeMare business services director for the Cleveland BBB In Florida the Priestes brothers operated "Unit No under the trade name of Florida Hearing Service until the new state law forced them to use in their corporate name John Priestes said in an interview that he obtained cap- I NOT BLEMS! 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CORVAIRS FALCONS DARTS VALIANTS Bus $175 FET and tire off car tir- lr''s w1 last (i days! 1st national pel photograph contest ALL SIZES AT LOW PRICES SIZES L78-15 whitewalls discontinued Tread Design 100 Whitewalls to LUBE OIL CHANGE WINDSHIELD WASHER CLEANER SOLVENT i Tir10tl pfei 3 WAYS TO CHARGE 7 On full gallon of pr-mixed solution No frees to Includes up to 5 Quarts of premium oil plus expert lubrication Sunday Only you can win 000 CONTEST SPECIAL 7i95 portraits 6 mit Let us photograph your cat or dog alone or with you photo-reflex studio ot all burdine's stores except miomi beach and Hollywood I 'S FT LAUDERDALE 17201 Sunmt 6234341 PALM BEACH Cir lit 4 Oinf Hwy 912-4141 DELRAY BEACH 21711 6th A 271-0141 KEY WEST 1201 Whit 4rt 296-1111 MIAMI BEACH Opposite 163rd Shopping Center 949-4316 FT LAUDERDALE 1420 Fdral Hwy 164-6116 FLAGLER STREET 1 2th Av Flagltr St 171-6411 MIAMI BEACH 1369 Alton Rood 331-2747 EDISON CENTER 6100 NW 7lh Ay 711-2171 DOWNTOWN 1361 Nt In A 177-1121 WESTCHESTER 87th Ave 6 Coral Way 2267676 HOLLYWOOD 1001 State Rood 7 917-1300 FT PIERCE 317 Orang Avt 461-0700 FT LAUDERDALE 611 Sa Stat Rd 7 SS1-I10Z FT LAUDERDALE St 9d 64 9 An 122-173 HIALEAH 19i Hialeah Dried 167-1231 HOMESTEAD I ION I (thltrMt 247-2144 RIVERIA BEACH 490 Broadway 141-3401 VERO BEACH 19th PI ii 14th A 962-1461 NORTHSIDE 440 27th Av 691-1200 HOLLYWOOD 106 Dimhwy 911-2111.