A circuit judge in Broward County has dropped three felony charges against Wellington developer Glenn Straub from a 2020 criminal court case stemming from a dispute with an ex-girlfriend and the placing of liens on her properties.
Judge Timothy Bailey on Aug 5. ruled that Straub’s company, Palm Beach Polo, but not Straub himself was behind $77,380 in property liens filed against Jessica Nicodemo, Straub’s ex-girlfriend. The liens have been alleged to have been placed against her fraudulently. The judge said the prosecutors had not successfully tied Straub to those liens.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office brought charges against Straub in January 2020 after a deputy in 2017 had recorded a conversation in which the developer said he had filed liens against two of Nicodemo’s properties to prevent her from breaking up with him.
Straub, 78, faced 15 years in prison if the courts had convicted him on the charges he faced: a count of grand theft larceny of less than $100,000 and two counts of filing fraudulent liens.
Larry Zink, an attorney for Straub, said Aug. 7 that the ruling had come as a relief to Straub and noted the case had been pending for more than five years.
Straub’s case made headlines beyond the allegations against the Wellington developer.
In 2017, Gov. Rick Scott transferred the case to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, citing a “personal relationship” between Straub and then-Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg. Nicodemo also was a friend of Aronberg and his former wife, Lynn. At one point, Straub and Aronberg also were close.
Aronberg had disclosed the relationship, and sheriff’s detectives requested the transfer because of concerns that Straub might know of the investigation, court records show.
In 2020, the Florida Supreme Court also assigned the court proceeding to Broward County. Prior to that move, a former chief judge of the Palm Beach County circuit had joined Straub’s defense team, and seven Palm Beach County judges recused themselves from hearing it.
The Broward County State Attorney’s office said in a prepared statement it is reviewing the judge’s ruling. It wasn’t immediately clear whether it would appeal the decision.
A related 2017 civil lawsuit by Nicodemo against Straub is still pending in the courts in Broward County Circuit Court.
Wellington developer Glenn Straub has long history of disputes, lawsuits
Bailey’s Aug. 5 ruling dismissed all criminal charges against Straub in an order that concluded he had not personally signed or filed the liens. He had rejected earlier requests from Straub’s legal team to dismiss the charges.
Bailey said two previous rulings in the civil lawsuit determined Palm Beach Polo was the entity that filed $77,380 in liens against Nicodemo, and under Florida law, only the “lienor” could be found responsible for them.
State prosecutors argued that as president of Palm Beach Polo, Straub was responsible for the all the company’s decisions. Zink and Michael Gottlieb, another attorney working for Straub, argued he couldn’t be held responsible for a corporate act.
Straub is no stranger to controversy. He has long been a prominent developer in Palm Beach County and has won a reputation for lawsuits over broken deals and delinquent debts.
In April, he paid the village of Wellington $9.4 million in fines related to damage done to the Big Blue Preserve, Florida’s largest remaining cypress hammock. His disputes with the village over the preserve dated to 2001.
Nicodemo and another former girlfriend, Lacy K. Bridges, have accused Straub of filing frivolous lawsuits against them as revenge for leaving him, according to court records. Since 2013, three other women, including a former Mrs. Florida, have also been sued companies owned by Straub over alleged debts.
Straub has acknowledged in depositions he dated the women but said his company sued them because they failed to repay loans, pay for work done by his company or return company-owned jewelry, clothes and credit cards.
The cases took on a high profile because of allegations that Aronberg had pursued charges against Straub as a favor to Nicodemo. Straub’s legal team asked that depositions both Aronbergs made in the case be made public, saying Lynn Aronberg’s deposition was critical to his defense.
Both Bailey and the fourth District Court of Appeals denied the request. Bailey’s Aug. 5 order also dismissed the request to unseal the depositions as moot.
Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge drops criminal charges against Glenn Straub in liens case involving ex-girlfriend
Reporting by Valentina Palm, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
