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Charges dropped against notary, businessman accused of fraud

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PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. ā€“ The cases against a man and woman once accused of more than a dozen felonies in the Florida Keys were dropped, according to court records.

Gavin Guinan, a former executive of luxury homebuilder Woolems Inc., and the companyā€™s former regional director, Shelley Saunders, had been arrested by the Monroe County Sheriffā€™s Office in 2023.

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Deputies had accused Guinan of forging an executiveā€™s signature, without authorization, on more than a dozen Monroe County building permits, which Saunders then notarized. However, prosecutors have since dropped the charges against both.

Civil cases against the pair remain open in Palm Beach and Monroe counties, but the two are pushing back with lawsuits of their own.

Guinan is now countersuing Woolems and company executives in Palm Beach County court, claiming in part that they ā€maliciously coordinated (a) false report alleging criminal conduct to coincide with the filing of its civil Complaint against Guinan as a vindictive way to apply pressure to Guinan for leaving Woolems.ā€

ā€œLess than four days after Guinan was arrested, the State Attorneyā€™s Office for the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit entered a disposition of ā€œNo Actionā€ (also referred to as a ā€˜No Informationā€™ or ā€˜No-Fileā€™ against Guinan on November 17, 2023,ā€ his suit states. ā€œIn doing so, the State Attorneyā€™s Office declined to file criminal charges and dismissed the criminal case because they believed, ā€˜Further information demonstrates lack of criminal conduct.ā€™ This holding by the State Attorneyā€™s Office discredited Defendantsā€™ fallacious version of events.ā€

Saunders, who had steadfastly maintained her innocence in the case, has also filed a counter-complaint, stating that the companyā€™s ā€œpolice report and complaint to the Florida Notary Commission include(d) false, inaccurate, and misleading statements.ā€

ā€œMs. Saundersā€™ reputation has been damaged by the investigation processes initiated by Woolems, Inc. and Mr. Woolems and, further, she reasonably anticipates her reputation being further damaged by the investigation processes initiated by Woolems, Inc. and Mr. Woolems,ā€ an amended counterclaim states.

Saunders told Local 10 News in an email Thursday that she is working through the expungement process in her criminal case and wants the ā€œrecord to be set straight.ā€

Local 10 News has contacted Woolems seeking comment and had not received a response as of the publication of this article.


About the Author
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Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

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