By Elisha Fieldstadt
A Florida couple is accused of swindling $5 million from a tobacco company to buy land, weapons, ammunition and precious metals in preparation "for the fall of the U.S. government," according to court documents.
Gretchen Camp, 36, and her husband, Richard, 35, each pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to fraud, grand theft and money laundering charges, according to Duval County court records.
Arrest reports for the couple filed by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office in December say that Gretchen Camp, an accountant at Swisher International, created fake invoices from a company that did not provide services to the Jacksonville-based tobacco company.
Camp allegedly confessed to police and Swisher executives that she had fooled the company into paying a Georgia-based business called Lodge and Anchor nearly $4 million dollars over the course of about a year, starting in 2017. Lodge and Anchor is owned by friends of Richard Camp, and the money was transferred into one of the couple's joint bank accounts, according to the reports.
An arrest report filed for Gretchen later in December said that following her arrest, investigators found she had stolen an additional $1,194,033 from Swisher by redirecting funds paid to Swisher from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into the joint bank account.
Gretchen Camp told police that some of the initial stolen $4 million was used to buy gold and silver "due to the fact that her husband is preparing for the fall of the U.S. government," said the arrest report for Richard Camp.
Image: Gretchen Camp pleaded not guilty to fraud, grand theft and money laundering charges in Jacksonville, Florida, on Jan. 22, 2019.
Gretchen Camp pleaded not guilty to fraud, grand theft and money laundering charges in Jacksonville, Florida, on Jan. 22, 2019.Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
She also "confessed that she had committed the offense at the direction of this suspect because he wanted more than she could afford to buy on her salary," said the report.
Richard Camp has been unemployed "for some time," and Gretchen Camp made $80,000 a year at Swisher, the report said.
Gretchen Camp also confessed that the couple used the stolen money to buy a 460-acre farm in Georgia, farm equipment and "a significant amount of firearms and ammunition," according to police. Investigators also discovered that the couple had used the money to buy a condominium in Florida and nine vehicles, many of which appeared to be “antique collectible."
Many of the checks coming from the couple's joint account were signed by Richard Camp, investigators found.
"It is abundantly clear that this suspect is very aware that his wife has been stealing from Swisher International for the last year and that he has used the proceeds from the thefts to make purchases of numerous items for his own benefit," said the arrest report for Richard Camp.
Richard Camp's attorney Jesse Dreicer told NBC News his client "maintains his innocence ... and is eager for the true facts to come to light as to his involvement."
Gretchen Camp's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Swisher International also did not respond to a request for comment.
Both Richard and Gretchen are free on bond, according to jail records. They are both scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 21.