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Top Davie official accused of fraud
Associated Press
Published January 15, 2006
DAVIE - Davie's suspended administrator was arrested for the third time in less than two months on new charges of embezzling more than $68,000, authorities said.
Christopher J. Kovanes now faces a total of three counts of organized fraud, three counts of grand theft and three counts of money laundering. Investigators said he could be sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted on all charges, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Saturday.
The new allegations raise to almost $500,000 the amount he is accused of taking.
Kovanes is accused of using a company called Public Service Strategic Consulting Inc. of Coral Springs to collect five checks from Davie for mapping services that were never performed, Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman Paige Patterson-Hughes said.
The checks were worth a total of $68,927.
Two checks were for $15,000 each, with three others for $14,900, $14,750 and $9,277, according to the affidavit.
He had been Davie's administrator since September 2004 and was suspended with pay from his $148,000-a-year job on Oct. 18.
Kovanes' attorney, Bruce Zimet, said he would not comment on the substance of Kovanes' case.
"This is a charge that relates to alleged past conduct," Zimet said.
[Last modified January 15, 2006, 01:47:20]
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