Lake Worth Employees Submit Fraudulent Documents and False Testimony in Code Violation Lawsuit

Two Lake Worth employees – an attorney and a code enforcement secretary – were placed on administrative leave Thursday after a Palm Beach County circuit judge blasted the city for lying to the court in an attempt to foreclose on land owned by two longtime business owners.

Faced with the fraudulent documents and false testimony, Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley said he had to throw out a lawsuit the city filed to foreclose on code enforcement liens filed against C&E Holdings, a hauling business operated by two brothers on North A Street.

Citing bogus documents the city filed, he compared the city’s actions to those of unscrupulous bankers who used robo-signers to push people out of their homes unjustly, fueling the nation’s foreclosure crisis.

“The lack of control over affidavits filed with the court in this case is not unlike the so-called ‘robo’ signed affidavits in the foreclosure division,” Kelley wrote. “More disturbing to the court is the fact that testimony was offered that was false and this testimony caused the court to enter an erroneous judgment which could have deprived C&E of its property.”

Attorney John Bryan, who represented business owners Carl and Ed Deveaux, said it appears the fraud has been going on for years.

In a deposition, code enforcement secretary Dana Nichols said she never checked the accuracy of affidavits she signed that were used to justify taking people’s property for unpaid code enforcement fines. She estimated she had signed as many as 25 affidavits over eight years.

Bryan said it is likely other people lost their land based on fraudulent affidavits. “That’s the troubling part,” he said. “I can’t figure out who’s fault it is.”
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