Former Florida GOP chairman arrested

The beleaguered former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) was arrested this morning on charges of defrauding his paty of over $100,000.

Jim Greer was indicted on six charges of grand theft, fraud and money laundering. 

Greer stands accused of using a shell company, Victory Strategies LLC, to steal money from Republican donors to maintain his own lavish lifestyle, statewide prosecutor William Shepherd announced at a press conference.

The former chairman's alleged scheme includes awarding RPOF contracts to Victory Strategies and asking donors to contribute directly to the company. In one instance, Greer allegedly transfered $40,000 from his own re-election committee to Victory Strategies, then wrote a check from Victory Strategies to himself for $39,000 the next day.

An ally of Gov. Charlie Crist, now an independent, Greer stepped down from his post in January as the Crist-Mario Rubio primary heated up (before Crist became an independent).

In an ironic twist, the charges against Greer stemmed from the first indictment of a special grand jury empaneled by Crist last October to investigate political corruption.

Shepherd would not comment on whether Crist had been interviewed as part of the investigation.