It’s always a sad day when a person in a position of trust violates the confidence he or she is given. It’s even sadder when the victims are elderly homeowners who’ve worked all their lives to save their money for retirement.
Homeowners Association boards and Property Management Companies, though, probably have more embezzlers than any other industry in America.
The latest arrest of a suspected embezzler happened in early July in St. Augustine, Florida. This blogger will enthusiastically post her name: she is 57 year old June Elizabeth Supko. She’s accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Captain’s Quarters Condominium Association.
The president of the Association suspected something was wrong, and asked Supko to turn over HOA computer passwords so the accounts could be audited. She says Supko refused and was fired. A forensic audit discovered the illegal withdrawals. Supko is now facing felony fraud charges.
Good reporting by the St. Augustine Record!
I sure hope that your book will educate judges to the misdoings of HOAs around the country! We are in the appeals process against our HOA for, to make a long story short, misuse of funds. Our fees went from the $300s to $1500. I’ve written to our state reps and they know of our case but offered no help. Good luck on the sale of your book.
Affas, thank you very much. I do hope there’s a mass re-awakening. But it takes more than a book. Each and every one of us has an obligation to spread the word to as many folks as possible.
We’re trying believe me. Our subdivision is not the only one in the claws of this dishonest developer. The other subdivision went to the newspaper. The paper wrote a story however the article was somewhat sympathetic towards the developer. Not only have I contacted our senator and state representative but I tried to contact the local news channel. They have a reporter/lawyer who helps people when their rights have been violated. His response was the same as the others. “Read your HOA contract laws then discuss your problems with the developer.” We’ve tried to no avail!
Here’s my analogy…our developer is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and the only people who know he is a wolf are the victims. Here’s the kicker, one of the developer’s lawyers is the former governor of our state. So guess what, we’re up against Goliath and we (David) have a broken sling shot. The laws seem to be written in his favor, his insurance is paying most of HIS legal fees, and who knows what other problems we are up against. I’ve lost all hope in this fight. I’m so sad.
I am so sorry for what you’re going through. I’m familiar with some of the folks you wrote about. What will really shake you up is your experience in court. You’ll find lawyers who are outright lying about the evidence, losing evidence that you have under subpoena, in short pulling every unethical trick in the book to win the case for the HOA. We’ve lost our way in this country. All we can hope to do is pray for a return of morality in the legal system.