HOLLYWOOD BEACH, Fla. – A property manager at a 100-unit condominium on Hollywood Beach embezzled $228,000 from unit owners during a two-year period, according to a lawsuit filed by residents.
The Hollywood Police Department is also criminally investigating the allegation that Kristin Glansen, 35, diverted large sums of money from The Waterway at Hollywood Beach into bank accounts she controlled, the city confirmed.
"Everybody is upset over it," said current board president Kay Callari. "We all feel like we've been robbed."
A lawsuit filed on the condo's behalf by attorney Eric Glazer alleges that Glansen created a company called Willis Homes, which has a very similar name to the condo's actual insurance company, Willis of Florida. And then Glansen cut big check after big check -- one of them as high $47,000 -- to her own company, the lawsuit alleges.
"The prior manager here walked away with a lot of money wrongfully," said Glazer. "She cut the checks basically to Willis or Willis Homes and put it in her very own bank account making it appear as if insurance bills were getting paid."
Attempts to reach Glansen, whose Elite Management company operated out of a small building on Sheridan Street, were unsuccessful, and a message left on her cellphone went unanswered.
Glazer said one big mistake made by the condo board was giving Glansen the power to sign checks. Along with a former board president, Glansen signed each of the checks in question.
He said that now residents must hope not only that they win a judgment against Glansen, but that she hasn't spent all the money and they can collect on their alleged losses.
City spokeswoman Raelin Storey confirmed that a criminal investigation is ongoing.
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