The residents and golf club members in the community of Glenmore, just east of Charlottesville, VA, are probably looking back on the last two years with a mixture of relief and pride -– relief that the sad tale of embezzlement by one of their family members is finally over, and pride that the community seems to have emerged out the other end stronger than it was before the crime.
Michael Comer, 46, pleaded guilty yesterday in a Charlottesville federal court to tax evasion and mail fraud directly related to his embezzlement of nearly $700,000 from
The Association's former treasurer pleaded guilty to tax evasion and mail fraud after embezzling nearly $700,000.
Glenmore’s Community Association, of which he was treasurer. Comer was also president of Glenmore Associates, the developer of the community. He had been charged with diverting funds from the Association to Glenmore Associates to pay himself unauthorized management fees. He will be sentenced in March and could receive up to 20 years on the mail fraud charge and five years on the tax evasion charge. Comer also pled guilty to using Association credit cards and business accounts to make mortgage payments on a vacation home and to pay for other personal items. The tax evasion plea was a result of the more than $900,000 in taxes Comer did not pay on the $2.5 million he took from the community’s business accounts.
Glenmore Associates is a family-owned business started by the late Frank Kessler who opened Glenmore in the early 1990s. Comer is married to one of Mr. Kessler’s daughters. Glenmore Associates repaid to the Community Association an amount equal to the embezzled funds and also sold the club to a Glenmore couple earlier this year, thus ending the Kessler family’s involvement with the country club’s governance.
The Glenmore Community Association is brutally frank in its published biography (read it by clicking here). Its 18-year history is spelled out clearly, warts and all, including the embezzlement episode. Those who know the Glenmore story may see particular irony in the description of Michael Comer’s involvement with the golf club and community association. “Mike Comer,” the history indicates, “provided book-keeping and administrative services at no cost to the GCA [italics mine].” Or so they thought.
The John LaFoy layout at Glenmore dominates the community. For the most part, homes sit above the golf course's rolling fairways.
Note: I revisited Glenmore last summer and played a round of golf on its fine John LaFoy layout with my son, on-site real estate broker Tom Pace, and his daughter, an excellent Virginia state high-school golfer. The course was in very good shape, although it was almost deserted on a beautiful fall Saturday morning –- tailgating had begun for the University of Virginia football game that afternoon. Glenmore is among the most stable communities in the southeast; its developers say only 3% of the 750 homes in the community are currently on the market, about half the national average for planned communities. New sections of the sprawling golf community are slated to open in 2011, including one area with properties ranging in size up to 20 acres. Typical prices begin in the mid-six figure range to above $1 million. For those contemplating a golf community home close to a major college city with excellent educational, cultural and college athletic activities within minutes, Glenmore remains an excellent choice. Please contact me if you would like more information about the community or an introduction to Tom Pace.
