Local Business · The Villages, FL
Daughter Seeks Recovery of Over $500K Parents' Costa Rica Investment
Elise Bowness is working to recover more than $500,000 her parents Richard and Mary Koch invested in Gerald Baum's Arenal Hills Costa Rica property venture through Baum Financial Services, beginning around 2011. The Kochs made an additional $50,000 investment as recently as December 2025 but received no returns. Bowness filed a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation on Oct. 2 after the elder financial abuse hotline declined to intervene. Baum's offices at Lake Sumter Landing in The Villages and in Brooksville have closed, and he denied rumors of fleeing to Costa Rica in an Oct. 18 statement. Other families have come forward reporting similar losses, including one elderly investor with $152,000 tied up in the venture.