Florida embezzlement case linked to Macon business

A Macon company has been linked to an alleged $4 million embezzlement case in Jacksonville, Florida.

The State Attorney’s office in Jacksonville announced that Gretchen Camp, an accountant for Swisher International, created $4 million in bogus invoices for a Macon business that did no work for Swisher. The business, Lodge and Anchor, is owned by a friend of Camp’s husband, the release stated.

Camp, 36, was arrested Dec. 3 on charges of grand theft and her husband, Richard Camp, 35, was later arrested on a charge of organized fraud and money laundering. Gretchen Camp was rearrested Dec. 19 on a charge related to allegedly funneling $1.2 million from Swisher into a personal bank account. In total, she is accused of bilking her employer out of $5.2 million.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s online records, the registered agent of Lodge and Anchor is John Garrard Jr. The address of the business is listed as a residence on Glencove Drive in Macon. No phone number for Garrard or the business could be located. A search for the business online brings up only its Secretary of State listing.

No one answered the door at the home Monday. A neighbor said college students are currently renting the house and were away on Christmas break. Bibb County tax records list Garrard as the owner.

According to the release, the phony invoices began in September, 2017, and funded a lavish lifestyle for the couple, including the purchase of nine automobiles by Richard Camp, who was unemployed. The couple also purchased a $500,000 condominium in Fernandina Beach.

A phone call to the State Attorney’s public affairs office Monday was not returned.

This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 4:11 PM.