PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: A fraudster who fled from a federal prison in Colorado in 2018 was arrested again in Florida when a picture of him at a Palm Beach fundraiser surfaced in a local news outlet. US Marshals arrested Allen Todd May, 58, on Tuesday, August 1 from a $1.5 million residence in Fort Lauderdale after receiving a tip that he was leading an extravagant life there under the fictitious name Jacob Turner. He was allegedly driving a $125,000 Mercedes when Marshals caught him.
May looked wealthy and was wearing a solid gold Rolex, according to a Palm Beach socialite that sat next to him at one fundraiser, as per Daily Mail. "It was an amazing situation because this couple burst onto the scene last season in Palm Beach," he stated, speaking of the alleged conman and his boyfriend. "They were driving around in a fancy car and going to all the parties in restaurants and posting everything on social media."
Who is Allen Todd May?
Allen Todd May is a 58-year-old man who escaped from a federal prison in Colorado in 2018, as per CBS. May, also known as Alan May, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 for stealing $6.8 million through a Ponzi scheme. According to federal investigators, he escaped from jail in 2018 by hijacking a prison van and fleeing to Texas. Though he eluded being caught, he was indicted last year for other frauds perpetrated while in prison, which earned him about $700,000. This drove the most recent search efforts.
'He had on a flashy gold Rolex'
This week, May was apprehended after he attended several fundraisers in Palm Beach and made an appearance in the Palm Beach Daily News. Speaking to Daily Mail, a source who sat next to the man on one of those occasions but did not want to be identified, revealed details about May's lifestyle and conduct in the months leading up to his capture. He described May and his boyfriend as Palm Beach socialites who had lately arrived on the scene and frequented events on a regular basis. "They would go to the opening of an envelope," he told the Daily Mail. "You didn't get the sense he was a fugitive, you got the sense that he had recently installed himself in Palm Beach. He had on a flashy gold Rolex on and you thought that he was going to be a man of means."
'They just said he was a businessman'
According to the informant, May and his partner were evasive about what they did and where they came from. "They just said he was a businessman involved in everything from real estate to finance, and his partner just said, "I work in investments with my partner" - they were very vague shall we say," the insider said.
An Instagram account, created in 2022, with the handle '@jacobturner1974' reportedly belongs to the escapee. Although a private account, its description reads, "Enjoying my fabulous life with my amazing boyfriend," adding, "Croquet. Polo. Boating. Tennis. Cooking. Delicious cocktails."