HOA Fraud and Embezzlement

• OR: Thief drains Cedar Lake HOA accounts
  Eighty-one Gresham households are tightening their budgets after a company hired to oversee their homeowner association’s finances reported that an employee has embezzled company funds....
• OR: Northwest Empire Community Management has money missing from 30 HOA's
  Members of more than 30 local homeowner associations have lost $1.5 million to $2 million worth of their monthly dues entrusted to the company they'd hired to help manage their affairs, according to clients of the firm and their lawyers....
• Restitution Plan Leads To Reduced Sentence For Embezzlement
  A Salisbury woman, who pleaded guilty last month to carrying out a two-year theft scheme involving thousands of dollars against the Berlin golf course where she worked as a bookkeeper, was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail, most of which was suspe...
• GA: DA won’t prosecute in theft from HOA
  The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office won’t prosecute a case against a man who was accused of stealing $28,000 from a homeowners association that he served as treasurer....
• FL: Volunteer treasurer bilks $16,000 from Polk HOA, deputies say
  A former law enforcement officer volunteering as a treasurer for a Lakeland homeowners association was charged with siphoning more than $16,000 from organization's account for personal use....
• CO: Estes Park Lodge Owner Accused Of Embezzling From Condo Owners
  The owner of a lodge in Estes Park has turned himself in after being charged with stealing money from condominium owners....
• FL: Ex-property manager pleads guilty to theft
  The former property manager of an Aventura condo association pleads guilty after being accused of stealing nearly $500,000 from the association....
• PA: Manager Pleads Guilty To Bilking Montco Condo Owners of $600K
  The former general manager of a Montgomery County condominium complex has admitted in court that he stole nearly $600,000 in a scheme he was running with vendors and service providers over a nine-year period....
• IL: Naperville library board president, businessman accused of embezzlement
  A prominent Naperville civic leader and real estate agent is free on bond and awaiting trial, accused of embezzling nearly $26,000 from a homeowners’ association on the city’s northeast side....
• PA: Police: Dover Twp. man stole $60K from homeowners assocation
  A former treasurer of a Dover Township homeowners association stole more than $60,000 from the association, police said....
• MI: Former assn treasurer given delayed sentence, ordered to pay restitution
  A man who pleaded guilty to embezzling money from a homeowners’ association was put on probation and has the chance to have a felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor....
• MD: Boonsboro woman charged with theft from homeowners association
  A Boonsboro woman has been charged with theft in connection with an estimated $137,000 that was withdrawn from a homeowners association’s bank accounts, according to the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office...
• FL: Lovers Key Condo board members plead guilty to grand theft
  Charles Bennett and Ken Marwick, both former members of the condominium board for Lovers Key Condominium in Estero, Monday pled as charged to charges of First Degree Grand Theft in connection with their theft of over $290,000 from a reserve account o...
• GA: Man accused of stealing $17K from HOA
  A 78-year-old Cobb County man is accused taking nearly $18,000 from his neighborhood association and using part of it to pay his bills....
• Woman pleads guilty to massive thefts from 12 condo associations
  A woman who helped run a condo association management firm pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing $1.3 million from the upscale developments all over the Tri-State....
• CA: Former Bayside Commons Manager Charged with Embezzlement, Grand Theft
  Albany police arrested the former general manager of the Bayside Commons condo complex on Pierce Street in late December, said authorities on Thursday in response to an information request from Albany Patch....
• MD: OC Condo Bookkeeper Charged In Theft Scheme
  On the heels of one of the largest condo association theft schemes in recent memory, a Dagsboro, Del. woman last week was indicted on 15 counts of theft scheme and theft for allegedly bilking an Ocean City condominium association out of tens of thou...
• FL: President of homeowners association accused of embezzlement
  Board members of the Sabal Springs Golf and Raquet Club filed charges Wednesday against the former president of the homeowners association, claiming he embezzled more than a $1 million over the last 3 years....
• OH: Prosecutor's filing indicates women may plead guilty to stealing $1.6M
  One, Michelle Banks, was the chief operating officer of a condominium management company and is expected to admit she stole $1.3 million from 12 area condo associations....
• Charge: President bilked own homeowner association
  A 46-year-old Issaquah man accused of draining a condo association bank account has been charged with felony theft....
• Prosecutors: Issaquah HOA president bilked organization
  Investigators said a 46-year-old Issaquah man bilked more than $11,000 from a homeowners association he used to lead....
• Fraud? No, Just a Scam: How Co-op & Condo Boards Can Avoid Little Rip-offs
  Sometimes being on a co-op board or condo board is like being on  Racket Squad. Only baby-boomers with long memories will recall Racket Squad, a Dragnet-wannabe from 1950s television that supposedly reenacted cases ripped from the police files....
• Banks don't look at names, signatures on cheques
  A group of B.C. condominium owners is upset Canada's largest credit union allowed the treasurer of their complex to cash about $50,000 in cheques that were payable to others...
• Former Palo Alto neighborhood group manager strikes plea deal in embezzlement ca
  Kimball Allen, the former administrative manager of the Greenmeadow Community Association, pleaded no contest to embezzling more than $60,000 from the South Palo Alto neighborhood group, prosecutors said Friday....
• MD: Grand Jury Indicts In Theft Scheme Case
  Scott faces six total counts including three counts related to his alleged theft scheme carried out against various condominium associations in and around the Ocean City area as well as three counts related to other individuals, for which he illegall...
• Watchful Eyes the Best Defense Against Fraud
  Most community association boards think of fraud – if they think about it at all — as something that happens to other communities, but not to theirs....
• WI: Franklin police probe suspected condo association fraud
  A 53-year-old man is under police investigation for possibly defrauding the Legend Park condo association in Franklin of about $30,000, according to a subpoena....
• WA: Former Olympia-area homeowners association worker guilty of theft
  judge sentenced the former facilities manager of the Carlyon Beach Homeowners’ Association to 90 days in jail and required her to pay $50,000 in restitution after she pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing from her former employer....
• NJ: Former property manager in Freehold Twp. accused of embezzling $75K
  A 59-year-old Ocean Township woman has been charged with misappropriating more than $75,000 in homeowner dues over a seven-year period, in her former capacity as a property manager for the Strickland Farms Homeowners Association....
• GA: Former HOA treasurer arrested
  The former treasurer of a Brookhaven homeowners association has been arrested and charged with stealing $123,000 from the group’s reserve account...
• Homeowner Associations: How To Prevent Fraud
  Fraud is a criminal deception. Embezzlement is the act of diverting money fraudulently for one's own use. Does this happen in community associations? You bet it does! And when it does, large sums are usually involved....
• CA: Former Palo Alto neighborhood association admin accused of embezzling $65K
  Kimball Allen said it was an accident the first couple of times he used the Greenmeadow Community Association credit card at San Francisco bars for personal expenses, according to police....
• GA: Manager gets 3 years probation for fraud
  Ray, 37, of Blackshear, plundered the bank accounts of the Laurel Grove Homeowners Association and Belle Point Homeowners Association to finance Internet shopping sprees for clothes and other personal items, an FBI investigation showed....
• NJ: Three charged with thefts from Aberdeen condo association
  A Monmouth County grand jury returned a 21-count indictment Aug. 13 charging a woman, her husband and mother with multiple offenses stemming from an investigation of thefts and mismanagement of an Aberdeen condo association's money....
• OH: Woman gets prison for bilking condo associations
  A Mentor woman who bilked dozens of local condo associations out of $3.4 million was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison Tuesday....
• NJ: Mother, daughter charged in scam - Indictment: Condo funds misused
  A mother-daughter management team has been indicted by a Monmouth County grand jury on charges they bilked more than $1 million from condominium owners in Aberdeen....
• NY: Dare's role in Pastures cost association $100,000
  An advocate for the Historic Pastures Homeowners Association, which lost more than $100,000 in association dues from the mismanagement of the properties by Aaron R. Dare, said federal authorities have refused to identify the group as a crime victim, ...
• OH: Embezzler tells how she spent $1 million
  Kathleen DeSalvo, co-owner of the firm that once managed Mariners Point Condominium Association, told attorneys last week she used the money, allegedly stolen from the various associations, for personal and business expenses, David Kaman of Kaman and...
• VA: Fraud at Koger may tally $2 million
  A forensic accountant reviewing financial records of an embattled homeowners-association management company says the amount allegedly missing from customers is more than double an original estimate...
• WI: Treasurer of Kansasville home owner's association reportedly forged checks
  The treasurer of the Eagle Lake Manor Community Association is charged forging checks against the association’s accounts to pay personal bills....
• FL: Four charged in multi-million dollar fraud scheme at Hallandale Beach condo
  Two people were arrested Wednesday and two others were being sought in connection with an alleged kickback scheme at a Hallandale Beach condo that may have cost apartment owners up to $4 million in unnecessary assessments, police and condo officials ...
• NJ: Readington condo official admits stealing $200K
  A former community manager of the Whitehouse Village Condominium Association in Readington admitted Friday in state Superior Court to stealing at least $200,000 from the organization, authorities said....
• Homeowner Associations: How To Prevent Fraud
  Fraud is a criminal deception. Embezzlement is the act of diverting money fraudulently for one's own use. Does this happen in community associations? You bet it does! And when it does, large sums are usually involved....
• PA: $600K Swiped From Montco Condo Association
  A Montgomery County condo manager and his acquaintances took more than half a million dollars from the Plymouth Hill Condominium Home Owners Association, Plymouth Township Police said....
• VA: Fraud at Koger may tally $2 million
  A forensic accountant reviewing financial records of an embattled homeowners-association management company says the amount allegedly missing from customers is more than double an original estimate...
• OH: Embezzler tells how she spent $1 million
  Kathleen DeSalvo, co-owner of the firm that once managed Mariners Point Condominium Association, told attorneys last week she used the money, allegedly stolen from the various associations, for personal and business expenses, David Kaman of Kaman and...
• CA: Sheriff's Deputy Who Took Money From HOA Sentenced
  An 18-year sheriff's deputy, who took thousands of dollars from his homeowners association while acting as its treasurer, was sentenced Wednesday to probation after a judge reduced a felony embezzlement charge to a misdemeanor....
• WI: Treasurer of Kansasville home owner's association reportedly forged checks
  The treasurer of the Eagle Lake Manor Community Association is charged forging checks against the association’s accounts to pay personal bills....
• FL: Accused condo worker lived lavishly
  Angel Ramos' lifestyle as a longtime Hallandale Beach condo maintenance supervisor seemed curious to some, even a bit lavish: He had an extensive wine collection, took 30-day vacations and drove a shiny E-class Mercedes-Benz....
• FL: Condo board fraud tough to detect, prosecute
  The million-dollar theft at the Parker Plaza condo in Hallandale Beach illustrates a sad reality of condo life in Florida: It's difficult for owners to safeguard the funds they pay their associations for maintenance and repairs....
• FL: Four charged in multi-million dollar fraud scheme at Hallandale Beach condo
  Two people were arrested Wednesday and two others were being sought in connection with an alleged kickback scheme at a Hallandale Beach condo that may have cost apartment owners up to $4 million in unnecessary assessments, police and condo officials ...
• FL: HOA bookkeeper confesses to embezzling
  Police say a homeowner's association bookkeeper has confessed to forging 34 checks that total $31,248.73, telling police he needed to money to pay his children's college tuition and expenses....
• NJ: Readington condo official admits stealing $200K
  A former community manager of the Whitehouse Village Condominium Association in Readington admitted Friday in state Superior Court to stealing at least $200,000 from the organization, authorities said...
  
  Courtesy:  communityassociations.net
  
  http://www.communityassociations.net/xmlarticles/fraud_embezzlement.html
  
  This article is not intended to be specific legal advice. It only provides general legal information. You should consult a licensed attorney if you have a legal issue.