A lawsuit against a former Resort Homes bookkeeper and her husband has concluded.
Last week, attorney Steve Rakow confirmed a civil suit against his clients, Tammy and Ron Barcus, had settled earlier this month. The news comes roughly a year after Resort Homes filed a lawsuit against the couple, accusing them of defrauding the business.
“The case settled,” Rakow said in an email. “The terms are confidential.”
Last October, Resort Homes filed a civil suit against Tammy Barcus, the company’s bookkeeper, and her husband, Ron Barcus, the company’s tile and marble subcontractor, alleging the couple defrauded the business out of $1.5 million over the course of several years.
The suit claimed that Tammy Barcus wrote unauthorized payments – totaling more than $200,000 per year – to Ron Barcus and concealed the transactions as payments to other companies. Resort Homes alleged Ron Barcus had then endorsed the falsified checks and deposited them into the couple’s bank accounts.
After discovering accounting discrepancies last fall, the company notified Maryland State Police, which began an investigation. The lawsuit also reports Tammy Barcus had confessed to the fraudulent activity, which was recorded by a state trooper.
Proceedings in the civil suit came to a standstill in February when it was discovered that federal prosecutors were considering criminal charges against Tammy Barcus. That criminal case reached its end late last month, when Tammy Barcus entered a guilty plea to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and tax evasion in federal court.