MAN WANTS CASH BACK -- $253,790

An Orange County auto-repair shop owner has stepped forward to claim more
than $250,000 seized from five men on a South Florida highway.

Wendell Loaknauth says the money is his. Prosecutors and a judge in Stuart
want him to prove why it should not be seized as possible drug money.

Loaknauth, owner of Wendell's Auto Repair and Body Shop, will not explain
the source of the cash. It was found in the trunk of his 1994 Honda Accord
during an April 11 speeding stop near Interstate 95 in Palm City.

Loaknauth was not in the car. The driver, Fritzner Mathieu, 37, of Orlando
and four passengers claimed not to know anything about the concealed cash.

All gave different versions for their trip after Martin County Deputy
Sheriff Robert Kohl stopped the car on State Road 714. Kohl got suspicious.

One passenger, Delano Elisme, 32, of Belle Glade was carrying $3,000, which
he told Kohl was money to buy a car. The deputy asked the travelers whether
they had any large amounts of cash, drugs or weapons.

``They all said no and shook their heads,'' he wrote in a sheriff's report.
Mathieu gave consent to search the Honda, and Kohl, accompanied by his K-9
``Sam,'' found $245,000 stashed in a black nylon duffel bag inside the
spare-tire compartment.

More money was found in the back seat of the car and in the glove
compartment, bringing the total seized to $253,790.

The men's versions of the reason for their trip, their denials about the
cash and Loaknauth's subsequent request have raised suspicions among
authorities about the men, the cash's origin and its final destination.

Maj. Bill Reichert of the Martin County Sheriff's Office said the seizure
was justified because the deputy's dog detected traces of drugs and because
the car's occupants failed to offer a reasonable explanation for the cash.

``All the statements about what they were doing and where they were going
were inconsistent,'' Reichert said. ``We had reason to believe that this
was contraband money.''

The Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act lets the state keep the currency if
it can show it is or was linked to narcotics activity.

Assistant State Attorney Robert Kilbride says Loaknauth must demonstrate
the seized money is his.

``He's just kind of come out of the woods to claim the money,'' Kilbride
said. ``He was not at the scene... . It's going to be his burden to show
that the money belongs to him.''

But Fort Pierce attorney Jeffrey Garland, who represents Loaknauth, argued
that his client didn't have to explain where the money came from or why it
was in his trunk.

In a document filed in Martin County, Loaknauth wrote, ``The currency
belongs to me and by this affidavit I am claiming these funds and the
return of my money.''

According to state and local records, Loaknauth is a mechanic operating at
628 Delhi St., off West Colonial Drive.

Loaknauth owns a $236,000 home in Windermere and a $182,000 office building
in west Orange County.

Law-enforcement officials said they have an idea of the relationship
between the passengers and Loaknauth, but they're not discussing it
publicly.

None of the men has a criminal record, and none has been charged with any
crime.
Elisme previously had been detained by the Metropolitan Bureau of
Investigation at Orlando International Airport. Agents said he attempted to
smuggle $41,400 aboard a flight to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, via Miami on Jan.
24.

The cash was confiscated, but Elisme was not arrested.

Martin County Circuit Judge Larry Schack included the airport seizure among
his reasons this month for ordering the Honda cash impounded pending a
trial on Loaknauth's claim.

``Based on the totality of the evidence presented, this court finds
probable cause to believe that the U.S. currency in this case was used in
violation of the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act,'' Schack wrote.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)