Woman charged in fraud scheme

Woman charged in fraud scheme



By CHAD SMITH
chad.smith@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/05/08


A woman who had been a housekeeper at a Ponte Vedra Beach retirement community for nearly a decade is facing charges of stealing more than $20,000 from a 98-year-old resident there.

The son and daughter of the resident, Devere Sheesley Sr., told police in late October that they thought someone had been taking money from their father's account. Investigators started looking at his bank statements and checking into who had access to his money.

The head of security at the community, Vicar's Landing near the Sawgrass Village Center, told detectives that a housekeeper, Carnetha Verna Gordon, 57, of Jacksonville Beach, and a health care provider had access to the Sheesley's home.

According to a St. Johns County Sheriff's Office report, Gordon told investigators that she had been taking the money, about $900 a month since the middle of 2007, to help pay her rent and electricity bill, which totaled about $850 a month. However, an estimated $24,000 was missing from Sheesley's accounts, according to the report.

Gordon was arrested Nov. 26 and is facing a charge of exploitation of an elderly person, a second-degree felony.

She was released from the St. Johns County jail on $2,500 bond on Nov. 27. Court records show she will be represented by a public defender.

Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Chuck Mulligan said it was not likely that she would face other charges, and it appeared that Sheesley was the only resident who was targeted.

Raymond Johnson, the president and CEO of Vicar's Landing and the Glenmoor retirement community at World Golf Village, said that if the allegations are true, Gordon betrayed not only his trust, but also that of the residents.

"We were shocked and disappointed, and, quite candidly, I'm very angry," Johnson said Thursday.

He said in the nearly 10 years Gordon was an employee at Vicar's Landing, she had an unblemished record. There was no sign that she would do what she has been charged with, he added.

"Overall our employees are very caring, very committed, and they're very upset because it casts a negative light on all of them, and that's not deserved," Johnson said.


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