NOCATEE, Fla. — A man accused of leaving Nocatee homes unfinished, including that of Reality TV star Capt. Sandy Yawn, is in Jacksonville Sheriff's Office custody and facing three charges.
Spencer Calvert, 51, is charged with misappropriation of construction funds $100,000 or more, grand larceny of $100,000 or more, and fraud-swindle to obtain property $50,000 or more, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. He is the president of the Pineapple Corporation.
Calvert was taken into custody after an arrest warrant was served at his home in Jacksonville on Thursday around 2:46 p.m. According to Calvert's arrest report, a JSO officer met with St. Johns County Sheriff's detectives and JSO detectives when Calvert was detained before his arrest. Calvert was then taken to the Police Memorial Building in Downtown Jacksonville to be interviewed by SJSO detectives under the supervision of JSO detectives, and afterward, was placed in Duval County Jail.
Yawn, the star of Bravo's "Below Deck Mediterranean" said Calvert left her "high and dry" during the construction of her Nocatee home. Yawn said she was stuck paying perhaps $800,000 to buy lights, countertops, toilets, and a roof and was left with a "shell" of a home.
“We are grateful for the hard work from the detective who is working the case and made this possible,” Capt. Sandy Yawn said in a statement sent to First Coast News Thursday night.
Cobb & Gonzalez is representing eight neighbors in the 'The Vista at Twenty Mile' neighborhood. They are suing both Calvert and the Pineapple Corp. in separate suits.
The neighbors purchased lots that were ultimately left abandoned and incomplete, from Calvert between 2019-2023, the SJSO said in a release shared with First Coast News Friday. Thirteen initial victims came forward and reported their experience with Calvert to SJSO Property Crimes Unit detectives.
SJSO further states in the release that Calvert received millions of dollars in deposits from neighbors to build their custom homes and misappropriated over $15,000,000. Additionally, Calvert failed to pay subcontractors with the funds provided by the victims for labor, services, or materials provided, which caused more than $900,000 in liens to be filed against the victims, according to SJSO.
"Calvert is accused of knowingly and intentionally accepting deposits and abandoning the project without any attempt to refund or correct the situation," SJSO said in the release.
Attorney James Gonzalez said he has one client who paid $600,000 for an empty lot that's still empty. He said they paid almost a half a million dollars to begin construction on top of the $600,000 land purchase.
Gonzalez said it's been almost a year since Calvert was paid and he never applied for permits to begin construction, exceeding the limit allowed by law by many months.
SJSO says the case is under an active investigation, as details will be released "when appropriate."
"I’m proud of our Property Crimes Unit detectives, who worked tirelessly for those who have been financially devastated by this crime," St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick said in the release. "This is a challenging case that involves a suspect who used his position of trust to defraud our citizens, many of them using life savings to provide a home for their family. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is committed to assist the victims as we continue our investigation."