PORT ST. LUCIE — A 59-year-old man was charged with grand theft by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office on allegations he absconded with an estimated $310,400 in client money from a real estate firm that he owned.
According to an arrest affidavit, Arthur Edward Gore, broker and owner of A. Edward Gore Realty, told investigators “he had used security deposits held in a escrow account in his company name, under his control, as well as proceeds from rent — for personal and business use.”

The report said he admitted to using the money starting in late 2007 because, “he began having financial troubles in late 2006 due to the declining real estate market.”
Gore, of the 2000 block of Southeast Berkshire Boulevard, was arrested on felony grand theft charges on Friday, the report states.
On Jan. 14, a search warrant was executed at his office and law enforcement seized financial records, the report said. The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office said in the affidavit that $86,400 was taken from a homeowners association and $224,000 was taken in security deposits belonging to various homeowners and renters.
An estimated 220 victims had told investigators their checks from Gore were being returned for insufficient funds.
Gore was released on $20,000 bond.
No other information was available Sunday.

– Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers

Tags: realtor, theft

This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 12:21 pm and is filed under Crime, Port St. Lucie, Stuart. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.