'Honest Mistake': Lawyer for Naples Fallen Officer charity pair says no intent to defraud
The married couple operating a Naples-based foundation honoring fallen police officers and facing charges related to soliciting donations say their problems are purely the result of not knowing the rules.
Rosemary Zore, 45, and Michael Aaron Randall, 52, the Naples CEO and vice president of the Fallen Officers/The Robert L. Zore Foundation, were arrested Tuesday on multiple charges by the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services' Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement Criminal Investigation Section.
A Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services arrest report probable cause statement said that criminal complaints against the couple was received by the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services on June 6.
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A statement issued Thursday afternoon by Attorney Chris Brown, the couple's lawyer, said "these people are good-intentioned people."
Brown, with Brown, Suarez, Rios & Weinberg in Fort Myers, said he's confident his clients didn't do anything to deliberately violate state law.
"We took on the case because we think they are actually trying to help the families of fallen officers," Brown said. "Now, have they made some paperwork mistakes? It appears pretty much they must have. Maybe some accounting problems. But we believe that it's all explainable, that there's not a real intent to defraud the families."
Brown said the next step is to sit down with the state attorney's office adding that the economic crimes unit in Amira Fox' office is pretty fair.
"We believe their heart was in the right place," he said of his clients. "We believe that any mistakes that were made were honest mistakes ... were administrative errors."
Zore was charged with failing to register with the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services as a charity organizer or sponsor and failure to apply contributions consistent with a solicitor, both third-degree felonies.
Randall was charged with failure to register as a professional solicitor, a third-degree felony.
They were released on $5,000 bond for each charge and have Collier County Court arraignments July 18 before Collier County Circuit Administrative Judge Joseph G. Foster.
Reached at the organization's offices Wednesday afternoon, Randall declined to comment other than saying the couple was meeting with their lawyers.
"The truth will come out," he said.
Zore and Randall have appeared frequently at area rallies and political events in support of the families and departments of police officers who have been killed in the line of duty across the United States.
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Zore cites the death of her Miami-Dade police officer father, killed in the line of duty on Christmas Day 1983 when she was 7, for her involvement with the organization.
In an April 20 article by the Florida Center for Governmental Accountability, Randall, via phone, said he and his wife had nothing to hide and were still figuring out how to run a non-profit agency. He said that the foundation applied for and received extensions to file its tax returns.
"Our 2019 tax return is done and our accountant is finalizing our 2020 return within the next two weeks,” Randall said in the article. "There were things we didn’t know we had to do when we started this. It’s not easy.”
The complaint against Zore said the Fallen Officers/The Robert L. Zore Foundation was operating as a charity and had never filed an application for license/registration and did not have a valid current license/registration issued as required by the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services.
The complaint also said records showed that the organization had been receiving donations from multiple donors and businesses from 2019-2020. "This illustrates a violation of F.S.S.496.405(1)(a) Engaging in Solicitation of Contributions without a License" the probable cause statement said.
Records showed that the organization filed with the Florida Division of Corporations as a non-for-profit entity on Sept. 4, 2018. A line on the organization's website says "Nationally recognized as a 501(c) (3) organization" and there is a tab for donations.
A separate complaint against Randall, listing him as a Florida-based professional solicitor and president/manager of The Gold Lion Agency LLC, said that the agency was operating without a license and had failed to register with the Florida Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services.
The complaint said bank records showed that Gold Lion had raised funds for the Fallen Officers/The Robert L. Zore Foundation and kept a portion of the funds for itself, which is a violation of state law.
Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Naples couple arrested in fraud made 'honest mistakes,' lawyer says
