A Florida couple aiming to prepare for the “fall of the U.S. government” swindled more than $5 million from the tobacco company where the wife worked as an accountant so they could buy land, weapons, ammunition, gold and silver, authorities said.
Gretchen Michele Camp, 36, of Yulee, was arrested Dec. 3 on the allegations. Duval County court records show she faces two counts of grand theft, two counts of organized fraud and 11 counts of money laundering.
Her husband, Richard Everett Camp, 35, was arrested Dec. 13 and charged with organized fraud, grand theft and nine counts of money laundering, court records show.
Both pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday in a Duval County courtroom. The couple has been released on bond from the Nassau County Jail.
Melissa W. Nelson, Florida state attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, said last month that Gretchen Camp worked at Swisher International, the Jacksonville-based tobacco company that makes Swisher Sweets cigars. Prosecutors allege Camp created fake invoices in late 2017 for a Macon, Georgia, company called Lodge and Anchor, which is owned by a friend of her husband.
Gretchen Camp diverted about $4 million to the company, which provided no services to Swisher in the time frame for which the invoices were dated, Nelson said in a news release.
The funds were then transferred from Lodge and Anchor to a joint bank account belonging to Richard and Gretchen Camp, the news release said. Signatures on the checks moving the funds appear to belong to Richard Camp.
Additional investigation following Gretchen Camp’s arrest indicated she found a way to change the banking information on checks coming in to Swisher -- totaling nearly $1.2 million -- so the checks were deposited into the joint bank account she shared with her husband, her arrest report said. The checks were refunds to the company from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the document said.
Nelson's office alleges Richard Camp worked closely with his wife to organize the scheme and used the stolen funds to make several large purchases. A wire transfer of $500,000 from the couple's joint account was used to buy a condominium in Fernandina Beach, the news release said.
Richard Camp, who was unemployed for some time before his arrest, also purchased nine vehicles since the first alleged theft in September 2017, according to Nelson's office. Some were antique collectibles.
Richard Camp’s arrest report indicates Gretchen Camp confessed to authorities and Swisher executives that she was responsible for diverting the funds to Lodge and Anchor. She told investigators she committed the crime at her husband’s direction because he wanted more than she could afford on her $80,000 annual salary.
“The suspect’s wife advised that the money had been used by her and her husband to buy a 460-acre farm in Metter, Georgia, build a cabin and several outbuildings on the farm and purchase the necessary equipment to work the farm, including tractors,” Richard Camp’s arrest report said. “The suspect’s wife also advised that the funds were used to buy significant sums of gold and silver by her husband, this suspect, due to the fact that her husband is preparing for the fall of the U.S. government.”
Read Richard Camp’s arrest documents below.
Gretchen Camp told investigators her husband also bought a significant number of firearms and the ammunition to go with them, the document said.
“It is abundantly clear that this suspect is very aware that his wife has been stealing from Swisher International for the last year and that he has used the proceeds from the thefts to make purchases of numerous items for his own benefit,” the arrest report said.
NBC News reported that Richard Camp's attorney, Jesse Dreicer, said his client "maintains his innocence … and is eager for the true facts to come to light as to his involvement." Gretchen Camp's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the news network.
Swisher International also did not respond to a request for comment, NBC News said.
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