PSL man accused of embezzling $1.4 million while CFO of Palm City industrial business
A Port St. Lucie man accused in August of using $1.4 million stolen from his Palm City employer to buy a house, a boat, automobiles, and a Harley Davidson motorbike, had a felony record already for pilfering $118,000 from his previous job in Stuart, court records show.
James M. Bradley, 58, of the 200 block of Southwest Todd Avenue, in Port St. Lucie, is further accused of using cash he embezzled from his Palm City job at a metal finishing business to pay back money he stole in 2018 working as a controller for Joy Communications in Stuart, according to arrest filings.
In that case, Bradley was charged in 2019 with grand theft after investigators found he had illegally issued company checks to himself, altered financial data in a bookkeeping program and made unauthorized credit card purchases.
In March 2021, when Bradley avoided a trial by pleading no contest, a Martin County judge ordered him to serve 15 years of probation, which could be terminated once $59,000 in restitution was paid, records show.
That same month, Bradley became chief financial officer at UCT Coatings Inc., at 3300 S.W. 42nd Avenue in Palm City, according to its president, Donald Weeks, who reported the $1.4 million embezzlement scheme to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in May 2023.
Bradley, who’s being held at the Martin County Jail, was fired a few days before Weeks reported the thefts and he was arrested three months later. He’s pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree grand theft, organized fraud and three counts of money laundering.
Felony gun case
This isn’t Bradley’s only legal trouble.
On Jan. 19, he pleaded no contest and was convicted of being a felon in possession of a gun in April 2022 at Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, where he was video recorded firing a handgun for target practice.
In court, his defense attorney Yunet Walker asked Martin County Circuit Judge William Roby to delay Bradley’s sentencing until April 29 and indicated by then his pending charges may be worked out with the state.
“My goal is to resolve that case and do sentencing together,” Walker told Roby during a brief hearing. “That way we can resolve all those matters at the same time.”
After court, Walker declined to comment.
Assistant State Attorney Kristen Chase though, has said the state intends to try Bradley on the theft charges before a jury.
“We haven't made a plea offer in this case,” she said recently.
If he’s convicted as charged – including the gun offense - Bradley faces from 18 years up to 140 years in prison, Chase confirmed.
Embezzlement accusations
According to a 15-page criminal complaint, Bradley began illegally diverting money from UCT Coatings in May 2021, two months after he was hired.
As CFO of UCT Coatings, Bradley paid all the bills, did the payroll and “had complete control of the company’s finances and accounts,” Weeks told sheriff’s detectives.
UCT Coatings’ attorney Michael Spotts, who is suing Bradley for civil theft, said Weeks and the company declined to comment.
Investigators in arrest reports detail how Bradley repeatedly wrote unauthorized company checks to himself, made numerous unauthorized cash withdraws and generated wire transfers to deposit company funds into several bank accounts he controlled.
“The amount of money stolen started off in small increments but got very large as time went on,” investigators noted.
Weeks discovered the accounting thefts on May 8, 2023, while reviewing bonus pay for employees, which he reported he usually did with Bradley, who was away taking time off.
Weeks first learned their payroll program showed Bradley’s salary had risen from $90,000 a year to $125,000 “without authorization.”
Bradley, too, was overpaying himself tens of thousands of dollars in company bonuses, reports show.
Weeks reported that bank officials told him “Bradley misled them to believe he took over the business and was in total control of the finances.”
Bank tellers told Weeks they were all familiar with Bradley “because he came in so often to cash checks.”
Financial records tied to Bradley’s fraudulent activity show “multiple purchases to airlines, airports, retail establishments and restaurants located in other cities, states, and countries,” investigators stated.
He also paid about $40,000 into two Roth IRA accounts, records show.
In all, Bradley is accused of stealing $1,425,977, which in part included issuing over $1 million in checks made out to “James Bradley,” and another $242,320 in “checks cashed or deposited made out to ‘petty cash.’”
Bradley is accused of using stolen funds over two years including:
∎Used $131,596 toward the purchase of a home in the 1700 block of Southeast Ebb Street, in Port St. Lucie
∎Paid $47,000 to the Florida Department of Corrections using two cashier’s checks related to restitution owed in his prior theft conviction, which allowed his 15-year probation term to end in March 2022
∎Spent $25,674 to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle from Treasure Coast Harley Davidson, in Stuart, which he later sold for $24,500
∎Spent $84,000 on a 2022 Pioneer 222 Islander vessel and trailer from Palm City Yachts
∎Used $15,000 to buy a 2012 Audi A6 from Coggin BMW, in Fort Pierce
∎Used $25,000 to buy a 2022 GMC Sierra 1500 pickup truck from Starling GMC, of Stuart
∎Spent $5,000 on a SeaDoo Jetski
∎Spent $25,000 to pay for cosmetic veneers at Stuart Dental Care
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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Port St. Lucie man accused of embezzling $1.4 million over two years
