Bookkeeper of iconic Florida Keys restaurant defrauded dead owner's estate: officials
A trusted employee over the estate of the deceased owner of an iconic Florida Keys restaurant was charged with defrauding the business in the years since he died.
Susanne Bloy, 71, had been Mike Forster's bookkeeper since 1998. She was put in charge by a family member of Forster to manage his business, Mangrove Mike's Enterprises, when he died at 61 in September 2021. Monroe State Attorney's Office investigators say she swindled more than $50,000 using the company's debit cards.
READ MORE: Mike Forster, former Islamorada mayor and popular Keys restaurateur, dies from COVID
Forster died from complications of COVID-19, a cruel twist to his life as he was overseeing giant charitable operation that began in the days after the Keys were shut down during the pandemic. Through his restaurant, Mangrove Mike's in Islamorada, he mobilized an ambitious effort to feed the bartenders, servers, cooks, bussers and other service industry staff put out of work because of a blockade set up at the 18 Mile Stretch in an effort to stop the spread of COVID in the archipelago.
What began locally grew to a larger endeavor of creating a nonprofit to feed those in need up and down the 120-mile island chain, which was starved of its lifeblood tourism.
'This case deeply impacts the Upper Keys,' Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward said in a statement. 'Mike Forster dedicated his life to public service and generosity. During the darkest days of COVID, his restaurant kept people fed and connected. To discover that someone he trusted is accused of stealing from his legacy is absolutely unacceptable.'
Recurring Apple charges?
According to prosecutors, Forster's niece, who took over the restaurant, began noticing recurring Apple.com charges earlier this year that had no connection to the operations of the business.
Senior Investigator Roy Bogue found that from February 2022 through September 2023, Bloy used company debit cards to make repeated purchases through a casino gaming app, said State Attorney's Office spokesman Steven Torrence. The app was linked to Apple identifications and devices controlled by Bloy, Torrence said.
'Thanks to a subpoena issued to First State Bank and records obtained from Apple and Yahoo, investigators were able to verify that Bloy was responsible for hundreds of in-app purchases charged to the Mangrove Enterprises business account,' Torrence said.
Bogue obtained a search warrant and found Bloy updated the Apple ID account, changed the billing information to her name and then tried to delete the account in the days before the business was transferred to the new owner, Torrence said.
'When someone uses their access and authority to exploit the memory and estate of a community icon, we will hold them accountable,' Chief Assistant State Attorney Joseph Mansfield said in a statement.
Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested Bloy Saturday on scheming to defraud, which is a first-degree felony. She was released later in the day after posting a $50,000 bond. She could not be reached for comment. Information on her legal representation was not immediately available.
In addition to owning Mangrove Mike's, Forster Forster was a Monroe County commissioner at the time of his death. He also served five terms on the Islamorada Village Council, and was mayor twice.
'This is about protecting the legacy of someone who gave so much to our community,' Ward said. 'We owe it to Mike's family — and to every family in the Keys — to pursue justice with integrity and resolve.'
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The Hill
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