ST. PETERSBURG — A former property supervisor of Parkshore Plaza, a high-end condominium constructing in downtown St. Petersburg, was sentenced to 2 years in jail this week after authorities say she used firm cash to purchase holidays to Disney, ebook private flights to Maryland, pay for costly journeys to the salon and canopy her dwelling water invoice.
Court docket data present Abby Elliott was discovered responsible on a cost of scheme to defraud and was sentenced Tuesday.
Michael Marquardt, president of the Parkshore Plaza Condominium Affiliation, alerted police to “approximately $154,000 in misappropriated funds” charged on the affiliation’s bank cards, in keeping with courtroom paperwork. The costs had been made by Elliott and one other worker of the property administration firm, Aaren Hayman, from February 2014 to February 2018, Marquardt mentioned within the paperwork.
Elliott and Hayman labored for Associa Gulf Coast, the property administration firm for Parkshore Plaza, data point out. As a part of her job, Elliott was accountable for submitting expense receipts and bank card statements to the corporate’s accounting division, in keeping with statements made to the police by the president of Associa Gulf Coast, Dennis Mansfield. However as a substitute of submitting all transactions, Elliott would solely ship over the entrance web page of the bank card assertion, “intentionally omitting the pages which listed the individual transactions,” he mentioned.
Elliott was then promoted and gained direct entry to the apartment affiliation’s bank accounts, after which she started bypassing the accounting division and paying the bank card payments over the telephone, Mansfield mentioned.
In keeping with courtroom data, a St. Petersburg police detective investigated the case and confirmed greater than $150,000 in private purchases together with: “luxury vacations, gasoline purchases, Sunpass tolls, dining, high end shopping, salon and spa services, hotels, airfare, theme parks, vehicle repair/maintenance, and orthodontics.”
Of these transactions, greater than $34,000 was used to ebook 10 journeys to Disney resorts for Elliott and “numerous family members,” the detective discovered. Moreover, she purchased airfare and lodging in Maryland, hundreds of {dollars} in eating and inns throughout Florida and practically $4,000 in purchases from Ellenton Mall close to Bradenton, and paid the water invoice for her household’s dwelling in Manatee County, in keeping with courtroom data.
Hayman, who took over Elliott’s job after she was promoted, additionally used firm playing cards to purchase tickets to Disney World and greater than $4,000 in pay as you go Visa reward playing cards, in keeping with courtroom paperwork, and is taking part in a pre-trial diversion program that might enable her to keep away from a felony conviction.
Marquardt, the apartment affiliation president, mentioned in an e-mail that he attended Tuesday’s sentencing listening to and he supported the decide’s choice. He added that Parkshore Plaza switched to a brand new property administration firm in 2018 for causes unrelated to this case.
“While Parkshore Plaza was made whole financially by Associa Gulf Coast, which employed Ms. Elliott, her actions were a serious breach of trust that warranted the criminal punishment the judge handed down,” he mentioned.
Attorneys representing Elliott and Hayman didn’t reply to requests for remark.
