SunCruz fraudster Adam Kidan who paid Trump millions draws pardon from Trump

By Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog.org

With the sweep of President Donald Trump’s pardon pen, sweet payback arrived Friday night for South Florida’s semi-infamous felon, Adam Kidan.

The Palm Beach Gardens resident, who served less than half of a 70-month federal prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy in the 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos, immediately saw both his status as a felon and his obligation to pay restitution ($21.7 million plus interest that’s been accumulating since his March 2006 conviction) dissolve. He pleaded guilty along with ex-super lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

There is no indication in Kidan’s Miami court file that he ever paid any of the millions he owed to his victims, who include the now-grown sons of SunCruz and Miami Subs founder Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis, Aristotle and Alexander Hren-Boulis. Their father was shot to death on Feb. 6, 2001, on Miami Road near Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale by a Mafia hitman. Kidan’s mob associate later pleaded guilty.

Still, while Kidan may have made payments not reflected in the court file, the huge debt no longer hangs over his head.

There is also no indication that Kidan, 61, followed the conventional path to a presidential pardon by applying to the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. His name does not appear in a search of the office’s clemency cases, suggesting he asked Trump directly to pardon him.

What did Kidan do before obtaining his pardon? Federal election records show that, beginning in 2017, he gave heavily and repeatedly to Trump’s campaign, Trump political committees, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and numerous Republican House and Senate candidates nationwide.

Millions of dollars, in all.

In the current 2025-26 federal election cycle alone, through June 30, Kidan and his wife, Cristiani, have so far given just under $1 million. All of it went to the NRCC and the campaigns and PACs of Republican House and Senate candidates, election records show.

During Trump’s 2024 run to return to the White House, Kidan contributed more than $1.13 million to his campaign and various committees supporting Trump.

Kidan has also given generously to Trump’s choice to become Florida’s next governor. To date, he has contributed $48,000 to the campaign of Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Naples, and to Friends of Byron Donalds, Donalds’s PAC.

KIDAN AS TRUMP’S CUSTOMER

Then there is the cash Kidan paid as Trump’s customer at Mar-a-Lago. On the weekend of Feb. 18, 2023, Adam and Brazilian-born Cristiana were married in what Kidan described as his “fairytale” wedding. She is 23 years younger than he is.

About 250 guests, including President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, attended. Video of the event showed the crowd was entertained by renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

When Kidan became a member of the Mar-a-Lago Club is not known, but the club’s website says membership is required to host a wedding there. The year Kidan married, the initiation fee was $700,000. Annual dues are about $15,000.

Weddings at the ultra-luxury Mar-a-Lago cost $200,000 to more than $500,000, according to Bolen Bliss, an online platform for wedding vendors to showcase their venues.

So where does Kidan get the money he gives to politicians? That is not clear, but here is what the White House said about him when the pardon was announced:

“In 2006, Adam Kidan was convicted and pled guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges. Following Mr. Kidan’s release from prison in 2009, he found work at a staffing agency and dedicated himself to learning the business so as to aid others in finding employment. He ultimately assisted in the founding of a staffing business, Chartwell Staffing Solutions, which grew into one of the 100 largest staffing companies in the world. Since leaving Chartwell in 2018, Mr. Kidan has served as the president of Empire Workforce Solutions which is currently the fourteenth fastest growing staffing company in the United States. Over the course of his career in the staffing industry, Mr. Kidan’s businesses have secured employment for over 250,000 individuals in entry-level jobs.”

Empire Workforce is the public-facing name for Kidan’s privately held, Delaware-based Atlantic Solutions Group. ZoomInfo says Empire has between 51 and 200 employees and annual revenue of $62.6 million.

WE DIDN’T WRITE WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ

Here, in the White House’s now-familiar Trumpian style, are descriptions of others pardoned by President Trump on Friday:

• Joshua Davis – Biden’s Department of Injustice targeted American businesses like Mr. Davis, who safely modified vehicles in good faith and circumvented cumbersome emissions controls regulations. President Trump has relieved consumers from these regulatory burdens; thus, there is no need for Mr. Davis to still be on probation, but to be pardoned.
• Matt Geouge – Like Joshua Davis, Mr. Geouge was a victim of the previous Administration’s wrongful and unnecessary regulations on emissions controls, receiving prison time for modifying trucks and lost his business in the process. He deserves his life and his business back. 
• Jonathan Achtemeier – American businessman Mr. Achtemeier helped people increase the lifespan of their trucks despite the burdensome emissions regulations imposed by the Biden Administration, but was excessively punished. He deserves a life without a stain on his record.
• Tim Clancy – The Biden Administration’s crushing environmental regulations on emissions controls not only killed vehicles but businesses too, including small business owner and Army veteran Mr. Clancy’s. Thanks to President Trump, Americans have the right to safely tune their and Mr. Clancy should not be criminalized for a policy that is no longer in effect.
• Ryan and Wade Lalone – To combat the monopoly on emissions-related repairs and increased costs allowed under the Biden Administration, Ryan and Wade Lalone bypassed emissions controls systems on semi-trucks and were persecuted for it. Such an enforcement by the former bureaucratic government was aggressive and invasive, and thanks to President Trump’s historic action to reduce or remove the economic burdens, these Americans are no longer criminals.
• Barry Pierce – The Trump Administration is not in the business to criminalize American entrepreneurs like Mr. Pierce, who tried to modify and repair trucks on his own but received egregious penalties and served time in prison. Such restrictions to the free market under the Biden Administration are no longer in effect, and thus Mr. Pierce should be a free man with a clean slate.
• Aaron Rudolf – Mr. Rudolf was excessively prosecuted by the Biden Administration, which weaponized burdensome regulations and jacked up operational costs for blue-collar workers in the auto industry. Since this policy is no longer in effect, hard working Americans like Mr. Rudolf should be given a pardon.
• Mackenzie Spurlock – Mr. Spurlock tuned trucks on his own to combat the rising costs of vehicle repairs by Biden’s antibusiness environmental regulations, and doing so allowed him to safely operate his small business amidst the extreme weather conditions in Alaska. He was also a victim of the previous Administration’s Department of Injustice, as both his home and business were raided because of this “violation.” Mr. Spurlock should be given a pardon as this burdensome policy is no longer in place, thanks to President Trump, and should be allowed to rejoin the military with a clean record.
• Jack Harvard – Mr. Havard is given a pardon because of his upstanding record post-conviction. After prison, Mr. Harvard turned his life around by committing himself to public service — protecting and raising endangered animals on his ranch, and allowing the US military and NATO troops to train on his land free of charge.