Scott’s son-in-law employed as board observer at firm in governor’s blind trust

Gov. Rick Scott’s son-inlaw sat on the board of the largest asset in Scott’s blind trust for almost two years, raising questions about whether there was any communication between them about the business that would violate state law.

Laws ban family and inlaws from acting as trustees of officials’ blind trusts, but not from sitting on corporate boards of companies in those trusts.

Jeremy Kandah was a nonvoting member of the board of Continental Structural Plastics, a company that manufactures car parts, from October 2013 to June 2015, according to his résumé. He did not respond to phone and text requests for comment Wednesday.

The company was sold to the Japanese conglomerate Teijin Ltd. for $825 million in January. Scott’s share of the sale was reported to be to about $200 million, more than doubling his net worth.

Kandah, 33, is married to Scott’s daughter Jordan. They live in Austin, Texas, according to property records.

Kandah’s experience consists almost wholly of tech entrepreneurship, including businesses relating to bitcoin and blockchain encryption technology.

Kandah’s role in Scott’s business affairs could take on added significance now that a lawsuit relating to Scott’s blind trust has been filed in Tallahassee.

Tallahassee lawyer Don Hinkle filed the suit in Leon County court Wednesday. It claims that the listings in Scott’s blind trust do not go far enough in disclosing Scott’s assets.

The listings include broad categories such as “All securities and other assets held in an account at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management under the name Richard L. Scott Blind Trust.” Hinkle maintains that Scott must disclose every asset and security in the trust, not merely which company is holding them.

The Florida Legislature passed a law in 2013 allowing elected officials to keep detailed lists of assets hidden, provided they are in a blind trust, and simply disclose the amount in the trust. That law also bans an elected official or “any person having a beneficial interest in the qualified blind trust” from making any effort to get information about what is in the trust.

It’s unclear whether Scott’s son-in-law has an interest in his father-in-law’s trust.

Hinkle has filed three previous lawsuits regarding Scott’s blind trust that have been dismissed by the Florida Commission on Ethics, according to the governor’s communications director, John Tupps.

“Because they are in a blind trust, the Governor’s assets are under the control of an independent financial professional,” Tupps said. “As such, the Governor has no knowledge of anything that is bought, sold or changed in the trust. In both 2011 and 2014, the Governor disclosed everything in the blind trust, then reestablished the blind trust and placed it in the control of an independent trustee.”

Tupps declined to comment on the family relationship Wednesday night, but indicated he would elaborate on it Thursday.

The “independent trustee” managing Scott’s wealth is Hollow Brook Wealth Management. The company’s CEO, Alan Bazaar, is a former business partner of Scott’s.