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St. Pete Man Stole Thousands From Girlfriend, Police Say

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - A 43-year-old St. Petersburg man defrauded his girlfriend out of more than $100,000, most of it by persuading her to open a home equity line of credit, according to court documents released today.

Richard Butler was arrested Friday on a charge of scheming to defraud. Bail was set at $50,000.

The thefts began in March 2005 and proceeded through mid-March 2006, the court documents state.

According to the documents, Butler persuaded his girlfriend to open a line of credit to provide him $20,000 so his home would not be foreclosed upon. She opened a $150,000 line at her bank, SunTrust, and gave him $28,000, the documents state.

In August 2005 he persuaded her to put her name on a signature card for his bank account at Colonial Bank, though she didn't bank there, according to the documents. When he got his hands on checks for the home equity line of credit, he would sign her name or his name and hers and then deposit the money in the Colonial account, the documents state.

He deposited $97,000 in the account at Colonial before withdrawing it for personal use, the documents state. He also established a credit card in his girlfriend's name before ringing up $8,769.10 in charges, and he added his name to a card she already had before ringing up $7,429 in charges without her permission, documents say.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 415-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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