Florida Woman Charged In Alleged Foreclosure Surplus Scam; Accused Of Using Forged Documents To Swipe Excess Proceeds From Tax Deed Sales

In Pasco County, Florida, the Charlotte Sun reports:

• A Zephyrhills, Fla., woman is accused of conning local officials out of $93,104 in excess taxes from foreclosure sales, a reported scheme state investigators say spans three counties. Michelle Boyett, 33, was arrested [last week] and charged with first-degree grand theft of more than $100,000.

• According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Boyett forged documents to collect money left over from the sale of foreclosed properties in Charlotte, Bay and Volusia counties. In all, the claims exceeded $113,000.

• Investigators say Boyett would submit paperwork to each of the county clerk offices identifying herself and her company, Central Florida Asset Recovery, as the representative of the original property owners. Normally, once taxes become delinquent on a particular property, county officials will sell the parcels at a public auction. In most cases, these sales generate more money than actually is owed to the county in taxes. As a result, the excess funds are returned to the previous property owner, an FDLE report said.

• Boyett attempted to act as an intermediary to the collection process, authorities say, as she would file documents claiming to work on behalf of the property owners. The documents also would include the forged signatures of the owners, giving Boyett consent to distribute the money, according to the report.

For more, see Report, Woman stole thousands in tax deed sales.