Federally Subsidized Company Doesn't Seem To Really Exist

$750K sent to a ghost firm at a bogus address

The Emperor Organization, a company that received nearly a million dollars in federal money, seems to be nothing more than an illusion.

Florida Watchdog traveled from Miami to Tallahassee in an attempt to find clues as to the whereabouts of the firm and its president Derron Bennett, who, according to records, received a grant of $200,000 in August 2009 and another $550,000 in April 2010.

Uncertainty has been growing since the organization appeared on the "deadbeat" list of the federal Internet site, Recovery.gov, a website — formed after the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — that tracks federal grant money doled out to companies who promise to create or retain jobs.

According to Recovery.org records, Emperor failed to submit required reports detailing and justifying its use of the federal handout.