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Money laundering charge tied to missing Realtor?

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@thecitizennews.com

A Fayetteville attorney has been charged with the Georgia equivalent of money laundering for wiring $680,000 in cash, mostly to the West African country of Nigeria, between 2000 and 2004, police said.

And sheriff’s detectives confirmed they are investigating whether this alleged illegal activity may have played a role in the likely death of the attorney’s nephew, real estate agent Thomas Martin, who was reported missing in June 2003 from his south Fayette residence.

On one day in November 2000, Sam Brantley, 62, wired $180,000 to Nigeria in separate transactions of $9,000 so he could avoid filing financial paperwork for the total amount, said Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan, chief detective for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department.

Jordan wouldn’t reveal why Brantley was making the large money transfers except to say detectives “believe the money was for illegal activities.”

“It may or may not be related to the fact that his nephew is missing and presumed dead,” Jordan said.

Brantley, of 235 Compton Drive, Fayetteville, is charged with four felony counts of structuring a currency transaction. He was arrested last week by the U.S. Marshal’s Department and he is now free on bond.

When asked if evidence points to Brantley as a murder suspect, Jordan replied: “I can’t say that. All I can say is we’re looking into it.”

Brantley declined to comment Tuesday morning but referred a reporter to his attorney, Nick Lotito of Atlanta.

Jordan said Brantley has wired well over $1 million in the Atlanta area but he is only charged with the transactions that took place in Kroger and Publix grocery stores in Fayette County. Although some of the local transactions funneled money to London, most of the money went to Nigeria, Jordan said.

“We do believe the money was for illegal activities,” Jordan said, adding that it will be tough to trace where the money went in Nigeria, although detectives will give it a shot.

Detectives have been following this lead in the murder investigation for approximately a month, Jordan said.

Brantley isn’t the only family member of Martin’s who has been pulled into the murder investigation. Martin’s brother, William Kevin Dilbeck, 31, has been mentioned as a possible suspect by police but he too has not been charged with murder or any similar charges for the suspected disappearance of Martin.

Martin and Dilbeck lived together in the Line Creek Estates subdivision in south Fayette near the Flint River just before Martin’s disappearance. Dilbeck originally said Martin left to live with a flight attendant but he since recanted that story. Detectives confirmed that when Martin “disappeared” he left behind much of his belongings including his car.

Dilbeck was later charged with misdemeanor obstruction of a police officer relating to the “flight attendant” explanation for his brother’s disappearance.

Family members originally reported Martin missing, police said. Martin and Dilbeck are technically half-brothers, as they share the same mother but different fathers, police confirmed.

This June, detectives were so convinced that Martin was dead they searched a 173-acre tract near Line Creek Estates, hoping to find Martin’s body. They didn’t.