ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — New court records show an accused cocaine kingpin, expected to go to trial in two weeks, was also named a suspect in a homicide investigation.
Curtis Ruff went on the run for nearly two weeks, after someone accessed the warrant for his arrest that was supposed to be sealed.
Agents said Ruff tried to hide money from law enforcement.
Investigators say they found a floor safe on the inside of Ruff's Ocoee estate where they believe his wife took out nearly $9,000 to hide from Metropolitan Bureau Investigations and Drug Enforcement Administration agents the July night he allegedly went on the run to avoid being arrested for cocaine trafficking.
Court transcripts describe how agents learned through a wiretap that Ruff was tipped off about his arrest warrant that was supposed to be sealed.
An agent testified the mother of one of Ruffs' children advised Ruff he was wanted by law enforcement for cocaine trafficking.
Minutes later, the accused drug dealer placed a phone call to his wife and instructed her to”'get the payroll.”
When agents arrived at their home in a gated Ocoee neighborhood, they discovered a floor safe that was found in the home was opened and empty.
Ruff's wife later admitted she was directed to take some money out of the residence.
Tax returns revealed in court that Ruff's alleged front business, Platinum Property Investments, had no rental income for the last two years, but showed gross sales of more than $200,000 that no one could explain.
Ruff is being held in jail until his trial after an agent testified in August that he was also named a suspect in a homicide investigation, and a third law enforcement agency was investigating him for tax fraud, as well as money laundering.
It’s all allegedly connected to the hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cocaine police said he pushed through central Florida.
Ruff’s trial is scheduled for Jan. 11.
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