A Marco Island attorney is facing a felony charge after deputies say he stole $80,000 from a North Carolina couple as part of a phony loan he arranged.Gary John Hausler, 58, 2496 Kings Lake Blvd., East Naples, was arrested Thursday on a warrant charging him with grand theft $20,000-$100,000.
Detectives with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s Economic Crimes Unit said Hausler contacted Alan and Saundra Kaplan of Swannanoa, N.C., on Dec. 18, 2008, about funding a loan for his next-door neighbor Barbara Rattigan.
Hausler told the couple that Rattigan needed a loan because the sale of her Kings Lake Boulevard house fell through and she needed money while she was in an assisted living facility, detectives said.
The loan would be for $80,000 at 10 percent interest and would be paid off in a year. The loan was to be secured with a promissory note and mortgage on Rattigan’s property.
What Hausler didn’t tell the couple was that Rattigan was dead. She passed away Dec. 15, 2008, according to sheriff’s reports.
The couple agreed to fund the loan. They overnighted a check for $80,000 to Hausler on Dec. 18, 2008. Hausler deposited the check into his trust account the following day, sheriff’s reports said.
The Kaplans told deputies that they have loaned people money in the past through Hausler, who has a law office at 950 N. Collier Blvd. on Marco. They also loaned Hausler money to purchase real estate. All of the loans were secured with mortgages.
But the couple never received a promissory note or mortgage on the Rattigan loan.
The couple told deputies they confronted Hausler in a telephone call on Jan. 25, during which he admitted that Rattigan was dead and that he used their money to pay off personal debts.
The couple filed a complaint against Hausler with the Florida Bar.
In a letter responding to the bar complaint, Hausler said he used the Kaplans’ money to pay off an $80,000 debt to Antone C. Mendes, according to sheriff’s reports.
An analysis of Hausler’s trust account by deputies showed Hausler wrote a check to Mendes on Dec. 1, 2008, in the amount of $62,841 and not $80,000 as he indicated in his letter to the Florida Bar, reports said.
Two checks written after the $80,000 was deposited were made payable to Hausler. One of the checks, dated Dec. 31, 2008, was for $2,000 and indicated it was to pay bills, the other was for $10,000 and indicated it was for legal fees, reports said.
