Rasmussen lives in Beaufort County, SC. He voluntarily turned himself in to the Collier County sheriff's office Feb. 22 to answer the charges. Naples is 180 miles northwest of Downtown Miami.
Collier County special prosecutor Michael Von Zamft is charging Rasmussen with one count of organized fraud and three counts of communication fraud.
According to the filed complaint, Von Zamft alleges the fraud occurred during attempts by Rasmussen and his Stadium Capital Inc. associates to raise $10 million from private investors for the planned 463-acre project next to Interstate 75, just south of the Collier County-Lee County line.
The prosecutor's charges are new, following the December 2001 dismissal by a Circuit Court judge of related allegations against Rasmussen and partners Paul Hardy and Renee Tolson.
According to Rasmussen's lawyer, Jerry Berry, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office previously cleared Rasmussen of any criminal participation in the project during an eight-year investigation of the defunct AS Goldmen & Co. of Iselin, NJ and Naples.
Rasmussen had hired Goldmen to sell stock in the Stadium Naples project. Goldmen was fined $1.2 million in the stock manipulation investigation. Anthony and Salvatore Marchiano, the brothers who had founded Goldmen, were convicted in New York in November 2001 on racketeering and stock fraud charges and sentenced to prison.
Sports Illustrated recognized Rasmussen in 1994 as one of 40 individuals who had the greatest impact on the world of sports over the previous 40 years.
Rasmussen later worked as a consultant with the Big Ten Athletic Conference, negotiating network television deals.
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