An alphabet soup of agents converged in downtown Beaumont on Oct. 9, grouping up more than two dozen local, state and federal investigators for a Wednesday morning raid at the office of stevedore and downtown investor Tom Flanagan. Among the agencies on scene: ATF, FBI, IRS, HSI, the county district attorney’s office, the Beaumont Police Department (BPD) and city of Beaumont fire officials.
Flanagan, who said during a recent city council meeting that he’s done more for revitalizing downtown Beaumont than anyone else he can think of, has been the object of criticism for the deplorable condition of historic buildings under his ownership. One of Flanagan’s buildings, the 100-plus-year-old “Gilbert Building,” served as the scene of a major fire in June. For months after the blaze, the streets surrounding the detrimentally damaged structure were closed, prompting backlash from other downtown businesses impeded by street closures and safety measures in place to protect the public from Flanagan’s property.
In the background, rumblings and rumors were whispered that the Gilbert Building may have been the victim of arson. Oct. 9, city of Beaumont spokesperson Tracy Kennick co-signed the arson conversation when she alerted the community that the mid-week raid in downtown Beaumont was indeed, “in direct relation to the arson investigation of the multi-alarm fire which occurred on June 6, 2024, at 328 Bowie, the Gilbert Building.”
Kennick advised that no other information was available for what is an ongoing investigation. As of press time, no one had been reported arrested in connection with the investigation. However, during law enforcement’s breach of the Flanagan office situated at 595 Orleans, called the “San Jacinto Building,” one of Flanagan’s employees was arrested on what was said to be an unrelated charge.
Bob Moore, a registered sex offender employed as a maintenance worker for Flanagan, was hauled out of Flanagan’s office in handcuffs.
The application for a search warrant filed by BPD Detective Aaron Lewallen revealed Moore’s involvement may have been to meet with the alleged arsonist that not only burned down the Gilbert Building at Flanagan’s request, but also set other fires throughout the city in an attempt to dilute fire department response and ensure maximum damage to the Gilbert Building.
“I find it reasonable to believe each subsequent fire was set in an attempt to pull resources from the Gilbert Building,” Lewallen swore. “Which in fact did occur.”
Additional investigator commentary from the scene of the raid speculated as to additional pending charges from a litany of agencies. Further revealed in the search warrant affidavit, a laundry list of employees were contacted to detail the inner-workings of the Flanagan empire, giving rise to allegations of tax fraud, past-due taxes to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, bad debt and a propensity for patching problems and padding bank statements.
Gwendolyn Andrews, who told investigators she stole millions of dollars from Flanagan with the victim electing not to press charges, further alleged that Flanagan ordered her to work without pay, produce fictitious paperwork for the IRS and forego employee tax payments.
Former Flanagan secretary Colette Turnbull, the affidavit states, recalled Flanagan’s decision to not insure downtown Beaumont properties and connected Flanagan to the suspected Gilbert Building arsonist – or at least a person of interest that Flanagan previously denied knowing – Marcus Allen Guillory.
“Detectives later learned, from other Flanagan employees, about a meeting between Flanagan and Guillory in which evidence of the fire was discussed,” Lewallen wrote in the search warrant affidavit. The lie Flanagan was allegedly caught in made Lewallen wonder what else the downtown entrepreneur was hiding.
“Flanagan was administered a polygraph in which the relevant questions included: Did you order anyone to burn the building? Did you have anything to do with the building being burned?” Lewallen informed. “Flanagan’s results of the polygraph indicated that he was being deceptive.”
Also, The Examiner has learned that Beaumont fire investigators received word that the Gilbert Building was set ablaze due to asbestos being found in the building. Investigators are said to be interested in the asbestos debris that was carried and deposited in the local water supply when the building was set afire.
According to the affidavit for the search warrant, Lewallen stated that, based on the circumstances surrounding the fire, and facts gathered, he finds it reasonable to believe Flanagan, in financial straits, conspired with one or more unknown suspects to set fire to the Gilbert Building for a financial benefit.
“Flanagan was being pressured by the City of Beaumont to fix his building, and the convenience of a fire would remediate his out-of-pocket expenses,” Lewallen summed up.
Following the execution of the search warrant, Flanagan reached out to the media by way of his attorney and issued the following statement: “Initially, I would like to thank the press outlets who are providing me an opportunity to address the investigation of the fire at the Gilbert building. That is the justification I was given when a multi-agency task force comprised of ATF officers, FBI agents, the Beaumont Police Department, and other officials executed a search warrant of my offices today. They have seized a voluminous number of records and a number of electronic devices. While I am presently unaware of the full scope of the investigation, I know they suspect I was somehow involved in the fire which destroyed the Gilbert Building.
“Let me be unequivocable – I was not involved, nor am I aware of any other person or people who may have been involved in the fire. To have been the cause of the fire would not only serve to destroy property I own, but to endanger other properties in the immediate vicinity I own which are occupied with tenants. I am actively trying to save the original structure of the Gilbert building at a cost of more than half a million dollars which comes out of my pocket. If the fire had spread, it would have jeopardized business income in the form of commercial rent payments.
“In short, this fire has only caused a huge headache for me, from city council meetings to employing engineers, environmental cleanup crews, and attorneys, it is costing substantially more to preserve the building, while fighting to do so, and simultaneously doing the work. There is no logical reason I would have ever done what is being alleged, nor am I the type of person who would ever engage in such activities.
“That is all I have currently. Any further questions can be directed to my lead attorney on this matter, James Makin.”