Palm Beach

Harry Sargeant, a billionaire diversified energy and shipping magnate from Florida, had better days in his life. He could take care of others’ finances, but it looks like he couldn’t take care of his.

The shadowy Sargeant, a fraternity brother of Gov. Charlie Crist at Florida State and a former finance chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, has been sued by a Boynton Beach builder.

Harry Sargeant is known as generous when it comes to funding GOP politics, but it isn’t paying attention to his courtyard: he is $500,000 behind in his payments for the construction of a $1.5 million-addition to his beach-front home, the court records reveal.

Curtis D. Meade, the general contractor asked a Palm Beach County Circuit Court to foreclose on Sargeant’s home. The property is estimated to worth $7.2 million, with its 17,921 square foot.

Work on the construction stopped last month when it became apparent, that Sargeant quit making payments, as the lawsuit alleges. The original contract was signed with Meade in June 2009. In all, the records show that Sargeant has collected seven liens from subcontractors on the job in addition to Meade’s.

Sargeant is widely believed to have been the sugar daddy who sent $10,000 checks to Jim Green, the former state Republican Chairman at a time when Green has financial woes. Green is currently facing fraud and money-laundering charges for skimming $125,000 from the party’s coffers.

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