Authorities seek financial records in Shakespeare case

When deputies from Hillsborough and Polk counties searched Dee Dee Moore's Lakeland home Monday afternoon, they were looking for financial records of how she handled slain lottery millionaire Abraham Shakespeare's funds, according to details contained in a search warrant application.

Investigators spent several hours at 9340 Redhawk Bend Drive, removing boxes and other items from the home. They were also looking for guns and any information related to the purchase of a backhoe.

Before Shakespeare's body was found buried under 5 feet of dirt and 4 inches of concrete at 5802 S.R. 60 near Plant City, a property owned by Moore and her boyfriend Shar Krasniqi, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that Moore took nearly $2 million worth of Shakespeare's cash and assets and put them into her own accounts.

For months, investigators in Polk County have been trying to figure out what happened with Shakespeare's millions. The investigation shifted to Hillsborough after Shakespeare's body was found.

Now the two agencies are working together to unravel Moore's financial dealings that included property purchases and sales, cash transfers and incorporations. Among other issues, investigators want to know how the money was spent and who helped spend it.

Moore was arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. She is being held on $1 million bond and she cannot post bail until she proves that any assets used were legally obtained.

Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee has said more arrests are expected.

In November 2006, Shakespeare won a $30 million Florida Lottery jackpot and took a lump-sum payment of nearly $13 million after taxes. He was last seen in April 2008 and was reported missing in November.

In an interview earlier this month, Moore said she took control of Shakespeare's finances with his permission, after she began writing a book about him at the end of 2008. Polk County records show one of her companies, American Medical Professionals, purchased a home from Shakespeare in January 2009 for $655,000.

Shakespeare had paid $1.2 million for the property two years before.

Until the search warrant application was signed, Moore was the only person named in the investigation.

According to the search warrant application, investigators are seeking business and financial records, tax forms and computer programs dealing with Shakespeare, Moore, Krasniqi, attorney D. Howard Stitzel -- whose law office is at 5802 S.R. 60 -- and Judith Haggins, who at one point had power of attorney for Shakespeare.

Moore's attorney, John Liquori, did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Stitzel refused comment, referring calls to his attorneys, who did not return a call seeking comment. Efforts to reach Haggins have been unsuccessful. A number listed for Krasniqi connects to Stitzel's law office.

Investigators are also looking for records pertaining to Shakespeare & Associates LLC, Abraham Shakespeare LLC, American Medical Professionals LLC, A Stat & Supplies LLC and American Professionals PEO Inc.

American Medical Professionals LLC - which technically owns the 9340 Redhawk Bend Drive home in Lakeland where Moore and Krasniqi live -- is the oldest of these corporations, set up in 2004, according to state records.

Moore transferred control of American Medical Professionals LLC to a Bonifay woman named Debbie Munguia on Dec. 14. Efforts to reach Munguia were unsuccessful.

Two weeks later, Moore approached a man named Greg Todd Smith, asking if he knew anyone waiting sentencing to prison who would be wiling to admit to Shakespeare's slaying in exchange for $50,000, according to a probable cause affidavit. The two would also have to dig up Shakespeare's body from under the slab. It was part of an effort to cover up the crime, investigators say.

Shakespeare & Associates LLC was formed in January 2007 and dissolved in September 2008, according to state records. The only names appearing on those records are Shakespeare and Cedric E. Lewis, a Winter Haven attorney who is not named in the search warrant application. In an interview, Lewis called Shakespeare a "good-hearted man" who fell under the wrong influences.

"I represented Abraham early on and tried to get his affairs organized," Lewis said. "When it became apparent that he was more interested in taking the advice of those in his entourage than my mine, I ended the representation. Abraham was a good-hearted man and it is a tragedy what happened to him."

A Stat & Supplies LLC was formed in September 2007 and reinstated in October 2009, according to state records. It initially registered as a staffing company and its address was eventually transferred to Krasniqi at 5732 S.R. 60. Investigators say Shakespeare was killed at that address between April 6 and 7 of last year. In an interview, Moore said that Shakespeare knew at least one of his killers.

Shakespeare's cousin, Cedric Edom, said that Moore told him Shakespeare was shot twice. Moore insisted that Krasniqi had nothing to do with the crime and said he only learned Shakespeare was buried on their property from media reports.

American Medical Professionals PEO was registered in November 2007as a nursing agency. In July 2009, its address was changed to Moore's home. Moore is listed as officer/director. Shar Anthony is listed as registered agent. Krasniqi's full name is Shar Anthony Krasniqi, according to records.

Abraham Shakespeare LLC was registered in February 2009, according to state records. It was registered to D. Moore at 5732 S.R. 60.

Aside from financial records, investigators were also looking for stocks, car titles, documents pertaining to auto sales, the purchase of a backhoe, any letters pertaining to Shakespeare, as well as telephone records and printouts of text messages. Judd said that after Shakespeare went missing,
Moore made it seem like he was still alive by sending text messages from his phone. Investigators also want to know who dug the hole in which Shakespeare was buried.

Investigators were also looking for firearms, ammunition and records pertaining to firearms training.