By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities
Management company owner sentenced to federal prison for stealing from homeowner associations
Jessica Anderson Jessica Anderson
The Baltimore Sun
Management company owner sentenced to prison after stealing funds from homeowners associations.
William Kyndall Francis built his property management business from his basement, growing it to 100 employees before being caught stealing from clients.
Francis, 39, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on Tuesday to 42 months in federal prison for wire fraud after taking money from at least 51 homeowner and condominium associations, which had hired his firm to provide financial and property services.
Francis, who owned Columbia-based Legacy Investment and Management, Inc. and Legacy Investment and Management, LLC, appeared in the courtroom in a dark suit and spoke at length, asking the judge for a lesser sentence for the sake of his two children. Francis also repeatedly expressed remorse to the victims who lost $2.5 million in funds intended for savings or money market accounts, and to cover their long term and unexpected capital expenses, authorities said.
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Francis also was ordered to pay $93,000 in restitution serve three years supervised probation following his sentence.
Read more:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ho-francis-sentencing-20161018-story.html
Convicted for stealing $2.5 million, but only $93,000 in restitution. Quite a discrepancy. Prison sentence of 42 months with 3 years of probation. HOAs will be paying for Kyndall’s crime for a long time, probably longer than he will be in jail, in the form of increases assessments. And their HOA insurance rates probably just went up, too.
Former HOA treasurer accused of embezzling $200,000
POSTED 12:20 PM, OCTOBER 17, 2016, BY SARAH STEWART, UPDATED AT 06:17PM, OCTOBER 17, 2016
KFOR, News Channel 4
OKLAHOMA – Residents in the Summit Place neighborhood near N.W. 122nd and Rockwell pay $286 a year for their homeowner’s dues.
That money is supposed to go towards things like maintaining their pool and volleyball court, the greenbelts in the neighborhood and other infrastructure.
But, some board members said that money was going to line the pockets of the former treasurer.
“The reason nothing was maintained and nothing’s been done is because we’re supporting his vacations and whatever he’s spending the money on,” said Dennis Stamper.
Stamper is a current board member for the Summit Place homeowner’s association.
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A police report was filed in July, but so far no charges have been filed.
Read more: (VIDEO)
This is a case still under investigation by local police. The report was filed by three recently elected HOA board members against the (now former) Treasurer who served in his capacity for many years. The investigation has uncovered at least $200K in checks and withdrawals signed by the former Treasurer and deposited into his personal account. Summit Place HOA has 550 members (homes), each paying $286 in annual assessments, about $157K annual revenue.
Embezzler pleads no contest: Former Woodlake homeowners’ association manager faces about three years prison
September 28, 2016, 05:00 AM By Samantha Weigel Daily Journal
The former manager of San Mateo’s Woodlake condominium homeowners’ association accused of stealing $2.8 million could serve more than three years in prison after pleading no contest to embezzlement charges.
Nearly three years after residents were first tipped off that their HOA leader was stealing from them, Susan Marie Lambert pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony embezzlement and felony forgery charges, as well as an enhancement charge that she stole more than $500,000, according to prosecutors.
It seems that more and more guilty pleas for theft and embezzlement also include a claim of a gambling addition by the defense. Susan Marie Lambert admitted that she and her colleague Michael Anthony Medeiros conspired to steal money from the condo association by creating false invoices from Medeiros’ company. The pair would split the money. Incredibly, the thefts went on for 6 years before anyone noticed.
Ex-condo manager faces new embezzling charges in Watertown
October 6, 2016 – Local – Tagged: Crime, Watertown Towns: Greater Waterbury , Waterbury CT , Watertown CT , Winsted CT
BY LARAINE WESCHLER REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
WATERTOWN – Police have arrested a local woman for a second time on charges of embezzling money from a condominium association. Joanne Fournier, owner of Custom Property Management in Watertown, was charged in November with stealing $50,000 between 2011.
Short summary here, full story by subscription only.
Details of previous 2015 embezzlement arrest can be seen here on this WNTH video.
Charges dismissed in alleged Leominster condo theft
By Joe Atmonavage, jatmonavage@sentinelandenterprise.com
LEOMINSTER — The charges against a mother and son, who allegedly stole more than $183,000 from a local condominium association, were dismissed Wednesday in Leominster District Court after the judge ruled against a request by the state for more time.
The larceny charges dismissed were against Judith Remy, 78, of 131 Litchfield Pines Drive, and Raymond Remy, 55, of 92 Middle St.
Both were charged in December with larceny over $250 by a single scheme after they allegedly stole nearly $183,704 from the Pickwick Manor Condominium Association in Leominster from 2010 to 2015.
Tim Connolly, a spokesman for Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., said the assistant district attorney prosecuting the case had asked for the continuance on Wednesday because one of the detectives who investigated the case was on medical leave and not in the courtroom for a routine probable-cause hearing.
District Court Judge Mark Noonan, however, denied the state’s request for the continuance and granted the defense’s team request for the charges to be dismissed, “over the objections of the District Attorney’s office,” said Connolly.
Hi Deborah:
Have you ever found a case where the corporation’s auditor reported suspected fraud? Or the lawyer? Or the property manager?
How about the sitting President or Treasurer?
It seems that only NEW directors, or an owner, figure out something is wrong or are willing to do something about it.
On Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 12:23 PM, Independent American Communities wrote:
> deborahgoonan posted: “By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities > Management company owner sentenced to federal prison for stealing from > homeowner associations Jessica Anderson Jessica Anderson The Baltimore Sun > Management company owner sent” >