A former Boynton Beach homeowners association treasurer is accused of embezzling $51,000 in part, authorities said, to pay the mortgage on his house that allowed him to maintain his position with the association.
Norman Glavas, 69, was arrested on Wednesday.
Boynton Beach police said they got a call in May 2015 from Quail Run Association President MaryLou Hagerty about a former treasurer suspected of stealing money.
Hagerty told police once she and a few others were elected in November 2014 to the homeowners association at Quail Run, near Woolbright Road and South Congress Avenue, they noticed a discrepancy in the bank accounts.
Between February 2013 to October 2014, 12 checks were cashed by Glavas with no records as to what the funds were used for.
In total, he wrote $51,542.59 out to himself, according to the arrest report.
Hagerty told detectives she approached Glavas about the issue, and he said he wrote the checks out to himself. According to the arrest report, he told Hagerty that he worked hard and deserved to be compensated.
In the association’s bylaws, police said, it “clearly states” that board membership is a voluntary, non-paying position.
Hagerty also told detectives when she confronted Glavas, he offered to pay back what he had stolen and write a letter admitting he had stolen money.
A few days after this conversation, according to the report, Hagerty told detectives he emailed her saying he wouldn’t write the letter and that he couldn’t pay her back. She called the police.
Police said they obtained records that showed Glavas wrote checks out to himself from the association’s bank account, and then placed the funds in three separate accounts to try and conceal the money.
Jail records show Glavas is now living in Royal Palm Beach.
Glavas is charged with grand theft over $20,000, organized fraud and money laundering.
He is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail in lieu of $13,000 bail.
kjacobson@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6547 or Twitter @katejacobson
