Article Courtesy of The Pensacola News Journal

By Thyrie Bland

May 8, 2009

All Cheryl Pyle wanted to know was if her name was on the reserve bank account of her homeowners' association.

The Heron's Forest Property Owners Association president got a shock when she asked a SunTrust branch bank: The account had been closed for a year.

"Boy, did my jaw drop," she said.

Pyle's discovery led to Tina Mitchell, 39, being arrested April 14 and accused of embezzling $484,196 from the bank accounts of several homeowners' associations over the past five years.

Mitchell's former employer, Montgomery Management Associates, managed the associations' accounts, including the Heron's Forest reserve account. The funds for Heron's Forest are used for such things as maintenance and landscaping, Pyle said.

Mitchell, a bookkeeper, is scheduled for arraignment in Escambia Circuit Court at 9 a.m. today.

Charges against her include theft, counterfeiting and forgery. She was released on a $45,800 bond Thursday.

"Everybody is concerned, but we want to move on," Pyle said.

Mitchell admitted taking money from the accounts after company officials questioned her in March, according to a Pensacola police arrest report.

She issued about 129 unauthorized checks under the previous owner, Carol Wilkes, as well as during her current employment under owner Robert Montgomery, the report says.

Mitchell told investigators she scanned the signatures of Wilkes and Vice President/Manager Susan Moody, then printed them onto the checks. She said she obtained the blank checks from the back of a stack in the office.

The checks were made payable to Michael Mitchell, M Mitchell or Mitchell Maintenance, according to the arrest report.

When Tina Mitchell met with company officials about the discrepancies, she was accompanied by her husband, Michael Mitchell. She said she acted alone and no one knew of her fraudulent activity, the report says.

"The accounts of the associations that Ms. Mitchell controlled are currently being audited to determine the amount of embezzlement by Ms. Mitchell as well as the procedure and technique used by Ms. Mitchell to hide her misdeeds," Montgomery Management said in a statement.

Besides Heron's Forest, the homeowners' association accounts involved include Sailwind at SunTrust and three Sabine accounts and a Baywinds account at the Bank of Pensacola, now Coastal Bank and Trust.

She's also accused of creating false tax documents for Heron's Forest.

Pyle said she went to a SunTrust branch in March after asking Mitchell several times about adding her name to the account. She said could not believe it when the bank told her the account was closed in March 2008.

With the revelation, Pyle went to talk to Mitchell at Montgomery Management. Mitchell, Pyle said, told her the account had been moved to another bank.

Pyle said she went to the bank and found a reserve account had been opened in the association's name. It was opened with $100 in March 2008.

"By the end of the year, there was no large amount put in, and in fact, it had been whittled down to $76 in the account because there were bank charges," Pyle said.