Bank slips in a veiled threat: Exchanging a big house for The Big House?

Wealthy coin dealer Mark Yaffe owns the Tampa Bay area's second biggest mansion, a 29,000-square-foot spread in the North Tampa's Avila community.

His banker accuses him of building the grand marble-clad estate with gold coins he was supposed to have stuck aside as collateral for a $35-million business loan. He built the house to display a museum quality collection of mechanical music machines.

Sovereign Bank forced Yaffe into bankruptcy in July by calling the loan. Yaffe proposes a reorganization plan that would repay Sovereign over 7 years. National Gold is one of the world’s largest rare coin wholesalers.

But there's a hitch: Sovereign suggests Yaffe could face criminal charges for defrauding the bank and might not be in a position to run the company during those critical repayment years. Here's the gist of it:

“Mark Yaffe, as a 50% owner of NGE, should be required to disclose whether he is aware of any criminal investigations...and whether he has retained criminal defense attorney,” Sovereign said in a court filing on Friday.

There's a lesson in here somewhere. How about this: Don't try to emulate Louis XIV if you're short of cash and have no peasants to soak.

Yaffe's got a case of the regrets. He told me two weeks ago that his wife and kids hate living in his Tampa Versailles. He dreams these days about downsizing to a 4,000-square-foot wood frame.

That's the fantasy of more than a few over-strapped Tampa Bay home owners.