Palm Coast, FL - Per a request from the city of Palm Coast, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office has filed a charging affidavit with the State Attorney's Office against 47-year-old Timothy Spangler. The affidavit recommends that Spangler be charged with Grand Theft and Scheming to Defraud. The charges come after a six-month investigation that began with a fraud report made by the city of Palm Coast against Spangler in February.
Spangler worked as the General Manager of the Palm Harbor Golf Course for eighteen months. It was determined that during that time, Spangler accepted personal check payments for children's golf summer camps and Saturday lessons. These payments were supposed to be made directly to the City. According to the investigation, Spangler told some parents that there had been a change and that he was taking payments directly.
When management confronted Spangler on the issue, he said he might have received one check in error but did not offer an explanation on how they might have happened or what happened to the money. This was followed by Spangler's termination and a subsequent written appeal sent to then Palm Coast Acting City Manager Beau Falgout.
Spangler included three checks that were made payable to him by different individuals for children's golf camp totaling $670 with the letter. He included two more checks from his own personal bank account totaling $667 in an attempt to pay them back.
FCSO detectives met with Palm Coast Compliance Manager, Jim Maher, on February 26. During the investigation, about four dozen checks endorsed by Spangler were found in his office desk. Maher stated that the city did want to pursue charges against Spangler for all the funds he fraudulently received during his employment with the city totaling $4,943. The following day, a subpoena was sent to Wells Fargo and Bank of America for Spangler's financial information.
“I want to thank our great team of investigators for their hard work on this case. Cases like this take time to gather all of the evidence and then even more time to make sure no stone is left unturned,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This guy thought he could be slick and deposit checks into his own bank account and that his employer wouldn’t notice. His actions not only hurt his employer but the residents of the City of Palm Coast who want to enjoy programs like the one he was defrauding. We are requesting the State Attorney’s Office formally file charges against him.”
This case is active. More charges could be filed in the future.
