ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – A St. Johns County builder who was accused of abandoning projects in Nocatee has been arrested on multiple charges, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office announced on Friday.
Spencer Calvert, who owns Pineapple Corporation, was arrested Thursday and charged with embezzling construction funds, grand larceny of $100,000 or more and organized scheme to defraud.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Calvert had contracts with customers to build homes in Nocatee from 2019-2023, but the homes were never finished. A total of 13 victims came forward and reported their experiences.
According to investigators, Calvert got millions of dollars in deposits from customers to build their custom homes and misappropriated over $15 million. For those victims to finish building their homes with new contractors it’s going to cost over $17 million.
His former employee described it as “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” The employee told investigators she quit after noticing multiple funding issues. She also said she’s owned $300,000.
The Sheriff’s Office said Calvert, 51, also failed to pay subcontractors and that caused more than $900,000 in liens to be filed against the alleged victims.
“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 a news 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.”
Homeowners told the News4JAX I-TEAM earlier this month they’re now out hundreds of thousands of dollars. In some cases, homeowners were left with just a concrete slab.
Officials with St. Johns County said it’s their understanding that the homebuilder, Pineapple Corporation, went out of business and about 15 homes were left unfinished in The Vista at Twenty Mile.
Reality TV Star Captain Sandy Yawn was one of the homeowners who were left behind by the Pineapple Corporation. Yawn said the home she and her partner paid $1.6 million for has been sitting unfinished and now has cracks in the foundation.
“We are grateful that justice is being served and that detective McGuire is working hard to uncover more of what Spencer has done. We are now leaving this in the hands of professionals,” Yawn said in a statement to News4JAX following Calvert’s arrest.
Yawn is working with a new contractor to finish her home, and she and the other homeowners left behind were talking with St. Johns County detectives.
Calvert, who was arrested in Duval County, appeared in front of a judge Friday afternoon. He was told a conviction on each one of his charges carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
