A millionaire businessman who promised to bankroll a new life for a welfare mother of five faces criminal charges and a $1.4 million judgment in a bank fraud and is not free to spend his money, attorneys said today. James Gisclair had offered to buy a house for Anita Hunter and her family and provide her with a job, a college education, a car and a nurse to care for the children. But court records show that a subsidiary of Capital Bank won a civil judgment against him after alleging in state court that Gisclair defrauded the lender out of $1.3 million. The judgment includes interest on that amount. The criminal charges stem from the civil case, according to Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Gregorie, who filed charges against Gisclair two weeks ago in federal court accusing him of making a false statement to a bank. Capital's attorney, Hugh Culverhouse Jr., said today that he understands Gisclair must satisfy any outstanding judgments before he can freely spend his money. The attorney added that in a deposition filed after the judgment, Gisclair said his businesses were worthless. Gisclair did not immediately return calls to this Boca Raton office today. He said Wednesday that he made his promise to Hunter because he felt like ``nobody was doing more than lip service to make a difference'' about poverty. ``I kept driving by and seeing the homeless,'' he said. ``It started to really bother me. ... I honestly became consumed by the urge to do something about it.'' For 28-year-old Anita Hunter, struggling to raise her children, including a month-old son, in a drug-ridden inner-city Miami neighborhood dubbed ``The Hole,'' his offer is a ``fairy tale'' come true. ``I can't believe this is happening to me,'' she said. ``It's just a miracle from God. I've struggled and hoped for so long to get my children out of this neighborhood and into a safe environment.'' Gisclair, a 43-year-old New Orleans native and principal owner of six Boca Raton enterprises, including a real estate management company and a restaurant, found the family through Livia Garcia of Miami's Community Development Department. He told her he wanted to help real people he could see and talk to. ``My idea is to see exactly where my money is going and be able to measure its success,'' said Gisclair, who has four children. ``The idea is to get Anita to become self-sufficient to the point where she can pay her own rent on the house, pay her own bills and do everything on her own someday. I plan to pay for everything until she reaches that point.'' He said he would find a home for the family in Boca Raton, Delray Beach or Deerfield Beach, about 100 miles north of Miami. Ms. Hunter would work during the day and attend Florida Atlantic University at night so she could pursue her goal of becoming an accountant. It's not the first time Gisclair has tried the idea. An earlier effort to help a welfare mother with four children failed because ``she was totally unwilling to participate,'' Gisclair said. ``And then one day she asked me to pay half of her rent because her ex-husband didn't come through with the money. I volunteered to pay it directly to her landlord, but she said, `No, send it to me.' That was enough for me to realize I was being connned.'' That's why Gisclair's has attached some conditions. ``I just want Anita to be honest with me,'' he said. ``I want her to become self-sufficient, and she has promised to have no more children. I will see to it that she gets medical care as well to take care of that.'' Ms. Hunter said Gisclair's conditions are ``tiny'' compared to the chance he's giving her family. She said the neighborhood she lives now is so dangerous she doesn't let her children _ Kentrail, 10, Krystal, 4, Grady, 3, Alex, 1, and Antjon, 1 month _ play outside. ``It's like a fairy tale,'' she said. ``These things don't happen every day and they never happen to me.'' Gisclair said he was shocked by the family's poverty when he met Ms. Austin on a visit to her cramped, one-bedroom apartment Friday. ``There was one bed and a hot plate,'' he said. ``But the place is immaculate and so are the children. ``They're well disciplined; they're clean. If you took one look at their smiles you'd want to do the same thing.''
