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February 24, 2007
Suit says Boca Rio funds misspent
The former president of the Boca Rio Townhome Association
improperly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over a
three-year period, depleting association accounts and leaving
owners scrambling to pay contractors, according to a lawsuit
filed Friday.
The former president and her husband, who have since moved out
of the complex, and the former vice president spent $622,070 on
online gaming services, mortgage payments, airplane tickets sold
in at least four states, cell phone and cable services and on an
online music service, among other things, according to the
lawsuit. The new board recently obtained bank statements from
the association's bank, SunTrust, and discovered what appeared
to be unauthorized withdrawals, said Randy Gavitt, a new board
member of the 264-home community west of the Florida's Turnpike
and south of West Palmetto Park Road.
With that evidence, homeowners said that in mid-January they
filed a police report alleging the past president Betty Marshal
stole more than $100,000 from the association. Friday, they
followed up with a lawsuit accusing the former board member of
committing fraud, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.
The lawsuit, which aims to recover the missing money, names
Marshal, her husband, Albert, and former association vice
president Mike Addessi as defendants. Attempts to reach Addessi
late Friday were not successful.
Betty Marshal's attorney Leah Mayersohn said in an interview
before the lawsuit was filed that other board members had access
to the association's funds and that her client did nothing
wrong. She said the accusations are coming from a group of
disgruntled homeowners who disagreed with Marshal's enforcement
of the association's rules and regulations.
"It was a condo commando gone wild," she said, referring to the
homeowners who she said stalked and harassed her client when
Marshal was the board president.
"If they had any evidence, the police would have arrested her
already," Mayersohn said.
Marshal resigned Jan. 16 and days later moved out of her Boca
Rio home. She now lives in Hershey, Pa., where she and her
husband own a primary residence, Mayersohn said.
Boca Rio is struggling to cover its operating expenses and pay
contractors, Gavitt said. Neighbors in November began pressing
for Marshal's resignation after three years as president.
Gavitt got involved when Boca Rio's lawn began to turn brown,
sprinklers were not fixed, the exterior painting of the homes
kept being postponed and contractors started threatening to file
liens for lack of payment, he said.
He and 15 other owners began asking questions and requesting
access to financial records, Gavitt said.
"They wouldn't give us anything," he said, referring to the past
board. State law requires that association records be open to
homeowners.
After Marshal's resignation, homeowners were able to review
documents and discover the withdrawals from ATMs at the Seminole
Casino in Coconut Creek and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &
Casino in Hollywood, Gavitt said.
They also learned Marshal owed about $6,000 in unpaid
maintenance fees at her Boca Rio home. The new board recently
put a lien on her vacant home at Boca Rio, according to public
records.
Mayersohn said her client had an agreement with the previous
board in which she was spared from paying her maintenance fee in
exchange for her work as president.
The Sheriff's Office is investigating the allegations,
spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.
"Boca Rio residents are upset because they don't think we are
doing enough," she said. "They need to understand that it takes
time to get the information from the bank."
Assistant State Attorney Preston Mighdoll said state laws that
regulate homeowners associations lack criminal sanctions, making
financial crimes hard to prosecute.
"We don't have statutes that address fraud in condominium and
homeowner associations," said Mighdoll, chief of the Economic
Crime Unit at the State Attorney's Office. Because of that,
local police departments find it hard to investigate such cases,
said Mighdoll.
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