By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities
This month’s roundup includes not only arrests and/or convictions of former association managers and board members, but also a conviction resulting from massive mortgage fraud.
Also, an interesting video explaining “red collar crime,” violent retaliation meant to silence whistleblowers.
State Attorney: Bryceville woman guilty of stealing $1.5 million from homeowner associations
Posted December 14, 2017 12:40 pm | Updated December 14, 2017 12:46 pm
By Dan Scanlan (The Florida Times-Union)
A 58-year-old Bryceville woman is guilty of organized fraud after $1.5 million was diverted from homeowners associations for her and her family’s personal use, according the State Attorney’s Office.
Lauren Eileen Carr, arrested Jan. 27 on that and a charge of grand theft, was found guilty by a jury and faces up to 30 years in Florida State Prison at her Jan. 16 sentencing hearing, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
Carr owned Stazac Management Co., which managed several homeowner associations between 2008 and 2015, prosecutors said.
Read more:
Several victim associations are named in a previous lawsuit brought by the management company’s insurance company. (https://www.lexislegalnews.com/articles/16012/judge-adopts-magistrate-s-recommendation-to-defer-insurer-s-indemnification-duty)
Ex-manager at Sun City retirement complex in Indio arrested for embezzling $100K
Amy DiPierro, The Desert Sun Published 12:26 p.m. PT Dec. 7, 2017 | Updated 2:34 p.m. PT Dec. 7, 2017
The former general manager of a massive Indio retirement community was arrested on Dec. 6 on suspicions of embezzling more than $100,000.
Ceasar Larrach, 46, was an employee of the housing management company Associa working at Sun City Shadow Hills in Indio, a 3,450-home development for people ages 55 and over.
Indio police spokesperson Sgt. Dan Marshall said Larrach moved money out of Sun City Shadow Hills by filing fraudulent invoices, writing checks to himself and forging receipts.
Read more:
Associa is reportedly cooperating with a local police investigation of one of its former employees, a manager who worked at Sun City Shadow Hills from 2014 to August 2017. After Larrach (the manager) resigned, an audit report revealed improper transactions, raising suspicion of embezzlement. The investigation is ongoing.
Former HOA president accused of stealing nearly $10K from association
By Andy Cerota – Anchor/Reporter, PRC 2 News
Posted: 5:42 PM, December 05, 2017
Updated: 6:37 PM, December 05, 2017
CYPRESS, Texas – Nathaniel Hurt, the former president of the Cole’s Crossing Homeowner’s Association in Cypress, is accused of stealing nearly $10,000 from the HOA.
According to court papers, Hurt had the HOA’s management company reimburse him directly for nearly $10,000 he claimed to have spent on eight new security cameras and power cords.
Read more (Video):
A former HOA President has been charged with theft for accepting a $10,000 reimbursement for the purchase of security cameras that apparently do not exist.
He lied about income and had a killer home. It was part of a $20 million mortgage fraud
BY DAVID J. NEAL, Miami Herald
NOVEMBER 09, 2017 05:12 AM
UPDATED NOVEMBER 09, 2017 05:12 AM
Marco Laureti owned several real estate and mortgage businesses, a real estate license, a mortgage broker’s license and a house on San Marino, one of the Venetian Causeway islands.
That $7 million piece of real estate, part of a $20 million mortgage fraud, is one of the reasons that Laureti has been convicted of seven counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after a U.S. District Court trial.
When the 46-year-old Laureti, most recently of Sunny Isles Beach, gets sentenced Jan. 25, he could be looking at a maximum of 240 years in prison, $1.75 million fine and restitution. Laureti’s cronies, Michelle Cabrera and Pedro Melian, who each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, will be sentenced Nov. 17. Their court confessions repeatedly say they operated under the direction of “M.L.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/miami-lakes/article183614271.html#storylink=cpy
A stunning report of massive real estate fraud involving the sale of luxury condominiums in the Sunshine State.
What is “red collar crime?”
Video of Richard Brody, Professor, Anderson School of Management, Univeristy of New Mexico
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