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Dan Andrews arrested again

A raft of new charges filed

Dan Andrews

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: October 8, 2009

Updated: 10/08/2009 04:09 pm

SEBRING - Former Sebring Chamber CEO Dan Andrews was re-arrested Thursday morning in Highlands County Circuit Court and charged with eight new offenses of making false entries on corporate books. Two other offenses were upgraded from third-degree to second-degree felonies.

A statement of particulars filed Thursday by prosecutor Darla Dooley accused Andrews of charging "unauthorized purchases" to chamber Visa and American Express credit cards.

Between March 1, 2005 and March 31, 2008, "checks or drafts were negotiated in Highlands County were drawn on bank accounts," Dooley added. A spreadsheet of the new particulars was furnished to defense attorney William Fletcher on Sept. 3.

The eight new third-degree felonies occurred in October and November 2006, and April, May, June, August and September 2007, according to the information.

After Andrews was handcuffed and led from the courtroom by two bailiffs, prosecutor Dooley told Hardee County Judge Jeff McKibben that Andrews will also be charged in Polk County.

Were these Polk County charges unrelated to the Sebring chamber, McKibben asked?

"That's not what she said," State Attorney Jerry Hill interjected. "It happened in Polk County; we're going to charge him in Polk County."

Aware that the defendant needed to be informed of a possible additional set of new charges, the judge ordered deputies return Andrews to the courtroom. McKibben was assigned the case because Highlands judges recused themselves.

Andrews' bond will be raised from $3,000 to $18,000, Dooley said. Fletcher said after the court session ended that he was caught by surprise with Andrews' arrest, and had to call a bail bondsmen.

"I had a conversation with (Dooley) at 4 p.m. yesterday," Fletcher said. If she had informed him then, he could have had a bail bondsman waiting for Andrews' arrival at the jail, the defense attorney complained.

Fletcher felt the re-arrest and the threat of additional Polk County charges were a prosecution tactic to get Andrews to pay more restitution. He wouldn't say how much money Dooley and Hill had asked for, or how much Andrews had counter-offered, but that counter was rejected yesterday in a 6 p.m. message left on his office phone, Fletcher said.

After lunch, while Andrews stood quietly in handcuffs, the attorneys argued about discovery. The prosecution has provided the defense with spreadsheets of hundreds checks and credit card charges, but hasn't said which ones were false entries or fraudulent charges, Fletcher said.

"That doesn't tell me anything," Fletcher said.

She has discussed this with Fletcher, Dooley replied. "He wants to be spoon fed, piece by piece… He's not entitled to my strategy."

"We've had this discussion," Fletcher said. "I thought we won this argument."

After several minutes of listening to attorneys argue, McKibben addressed Dooley: "I grow frustrated. You're going to have to show which entries are false… When do I find out?"

McKibben, a former bank attorney, also got after Fletcher for not supplying a list of defense witnesses, and tried to set a deadline. Probably the end of the day, Fletcher offered, then pointed out that he had just received a box of discovery documents.

His witness list does include "at least a couple of substantive witnesses," Fletcher suggested.

Andrews is due back in court for another hearing at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 22. Dooley said she is still shooting for a Dec. 2009 trial date.

Background

Although he was paid a $50,000 a year salary, Andrews is accused of supporting a more lavish lifestyle for three years on chamber credit cards. An arrest warrant issued after a seven-month investigation by the state attorney's office accused Andrews of obtaining golf clubs for himself, buying a Tiffany necklace for his wife, landscaping his home, and splurging on restaurant meals for people who may not have been chamber clients.

Before Andrews was fired, chamber board members and accountants discovered about $86,000 in dedicated scholarship funds had been moved to an operational fund and spent. Even so, at least six balance sheets were presented by the executive director to his board, showing false balances for the scholarship account, said a state attorney investigator.

Another $29,000 in grant money wasn't paid to contractor Mark Stewart for remodeling the chamber's downtown welcome center. More money remains missing, unaccounted for, or misspent. The chamber reportedly owed about $500,000.

Andrews, of 2430 Lakeview Drive, was arrested Nov. 24, 2008 and charged with larceny, fraud, and embezzlement, booked into jail, and released after two hours on $3,000 bond. He has pled not guilty.

Highlands Today reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863-386-5828

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