Article Courtesy of Florida
Realtors
By Michael Braun
Published March 12, 2022
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NAPLES – A Collier County judge’s decision in a case involving the alleged
embezzlement of possibly millions from nearly three dozen Collier and Lee
county communities didn’t go far enough for some in those communities.
A hearing Friday before Collier County Court Judge Lauren Brodie dealt with
an emergency motion by 35 homeowner and condo association communities to
expand their original Jan. 5 injunction against Naples-based American
Property Management Services.
The judge ruled that representatives from the communities may see balances
of accounts at Wells Fargo Bank linked to APMS, but not access remaining
funds. The hearing was one of several court actions filed against APMS in
the past year alleging fraud, breach of contract and embezzlement.
“It’s frustrating and unexpected,” said Mike Trapani, who lives at Royal Bay
Villas in Naples. “I would expect that the courts and the law would be like
supporting us right now instead of leaving us hanging. I heard (Wells Fargo)
is going to give us our balances, which does us no good. It just seems like
we’re having to defend ourselves.”
The attorney for the communities agreed.
“This is incredibly disheartening,” attorney Jason Hamilton Mikes, a Naples
lawyer representing the condo and homeowners associations, said. “Aside from
the fraud, aside from the theft, the very act of keeping these funds,
accounts and records from these communities is a crime in itself punishable
by jail and/or probation and fines … times 35 neighborhoods.”
As part of the suit by the 35 communities there is a temporary restraining
order freezing the Wells Fargo accounts.
Additionally, courts have authorized the Collier County Sheriff’s Office to
remove Ortiz and APMS from office space at 8817, 8819 and 88235 Tamiami
Trail East. Owners Lago Capital Investments posted an eviction notice at
that site in January.
The communities had hoped that the judge would allow officers of the
communities the ability to see the Wells Fargo account balances, but she
stopped short of granting them access to other bank records and possession
of funds remaining in their accounts.
“The bank statements and other account information would definitively prove
the theft for all the communities (not just the dozen we have documentary
evidence for now) and allow these communities to file claims with their
insurers and maybe get some money back,” Mikes said.
Affidavits filed in the case from a number of the community officials
document their conversations with representatives of Wells Fargo that showed
community operating and reserve accounts, thought by the officials to
contain from $100,000 to $200,000, had been reduced, in some cases, to
nothing.
Mikes hopes to have the matter continued before the judge by mid-April or
early May.
Officials and residents from the affected communities were not pleased with
Friday’s outcome.
“That’s our money in a bank account,” Trapani, a former board member at
Royal Bay Villas, said. “It’s obvious that somebody … is using (it) for
their own good.”
Condo and homeowner associations that entrust management companies give the
businesses wide latitude, via a signed agreement, to pay bills, collect
funds and perform other fiduciary roles. Funds collected include association
fees paid by home and condo owners that can range from hundreds to thousands
of dollars, usually paid quarterly.
In the suit against APMS, the communities involved claim company owner
Orlando Miserandino Ortiz misappropriated community funds and set up the
Wells Fargo bank accounts in his and APMS’ name only, in effect not allowing
community representatives access.
“(O)ur association desperately needs our bank statements and any ‘leftover’
money in our accounts,” said Royal Bay Villas Condo Association President
Laura Rigsby. “A large majority paid first quarter to APMS (and) we believe
that money is in our accounts locked down. Without the bank statements and
access to this money we are struggling.”
Mikes has outlined the impact of the allegations.
“APMS failed to pay most of the associations’ bills for several months,”
Mikes said in an email to The Naples Daily News and News-Press. “Things like
landscaping are not such a concern. However, other issues are very
troubling.”
Mikes said Bridgewater Bay owes Florida Power and Light more than $25,000.
The company planned to shut off the electricity to the community Jan. 26 but
for promises to pay.
Beyond regular services, Mikes said APMS collected healthcare insurance
premiums from its employees for several paychecks, but did not pay the money
to the healthcare insurer. “Employees just received notice that their
healthcare insurance was cancelled … on Dec. 1, 2021, and they are stuck
with all medical bills that came up in the two months since,” he said.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people each property employs, who
provides healthcare insurance and how many the lack of coverage affects.
Trapani said some community members at Royal Villas have the wherewithal to
advance-pay some fees and expenses to give the community cash flow to pay
for services.
“We have 92 owners,” Trapani said, adding that many are senior citizens on
fixed incomes, or Social Security and pensions can’t afford to pay over and
over. “You’re not talking about the rich 1%.”
Some of his community’s service providers had complained about not being
paid for months.
“The landscapers were not paid since September,” Trapani said, adding that
the landscaping company said APMS provided “excuses” during that time why
payments had not been forthcoming, saying funds were sent to the wrong
account and similar reasons. He said no services have been cancelled or
stopped, but the community has had to resort to getting a $75,000 loan,
which will need to be paid back, to keep some services going.
Tripini doesn’t fault association officials because part of the complaint
against APMS is that documents showing account balances and payments were
altered to show different amounts.
Mikes said the freezing of the Wells Fargo accounts was necessary to prevent
more unauthorized transfers.
The current whereabouts of APMS owner Ortiz and Lina Munoz Posada, his wife
and business partner, are unclear. Legal representatives for Ortiz and APMS
have not responded to recent requests for comment.
“In all of this, where is this person?” Trapani said about Ortiz. “He’s the
one accused of all this, and he’s nowhere to be found.”
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