Spencer Calvert, The Pineapple Corporation president who reality TV star Capt. Sandy Yawn and others allege took their money and didn’t finish their homes, is in jail after being arrested on fraud and other charges Feb. 22 in Jacksonville.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release posted on Facebook that Calvert, 51, is charged with embezzling and misappropriating more than $100,000 in construction funds, first-degree grand larceny of $100,000 or more and organized scheme to defraud.
The post said Calvert was in contract with customers to build several homes in Nocatee’s Vista neighborhood. It said victims purchased lots from Calvert between 2019-23 that were ultimately left abandoned and incomplete. It said 13 initial victims came forward and reported their experience to SJSO Property Crimes Unit detectives.
St. Johns County said detectives “initiated an investigation with assistance from investigators from the State Attorney, Florida’s 7th Circuit “and learned Calvert received millions of dollars in deposits from customers to build their custom homes and misappropriated over $15,000,000.”
“Additionally, Calvert failed to pay subcontractors with the funds provided by the victims for labor, services, or materials provided which caused more than $900,000 in liens to be filed against the victims,” the post said.
“Calvert is accused of knowingly and intentionally accepting deposits and abandoning the project without any attempt to refund or correct the situation.”
St. Johns County said they executed a search warrant at Calvert’s Jacksonville home with assistance from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office “and have continued to work through the night and into the morning collecting evidence.”
According to the JSO, Calvert was arrested at 7711 Baymeadows Road, a building with several medical offices, at 3:13 p.m.
The arresting officer said Calvert was in the custody of JSO and St. Johns County detectives when he arrived.
Calvert was transported to Duval County Jail where he was admitted at 7:57 p.m. and remains with bond set at $300,000.
Yawn, the yacht captain featured on Bravo’s “Below Deck Mediterranean,” and her partner, Leah Shafer, paid more than $1.6 million in January for the home at 72 Bear Point under construction in Twenty Mile in Nocatee, Ponte Vedra.
Daily Record news partner News4Jax reported Feb. 13 that the homebuilder, The Pineapple Corporation, apparently went out of business.
The company’s former Jacksonville Beach offices are empty, the report said.
The Daily Record reported that between October 2023 and February 2024 The Pineapple Corporation was sued 18 times in St. Johns County by homebuyers who allege Pineapple took their money but did not deliver finished homes and by subcontractors who claim they supplied materials and did work for Pineapple but were not paid.
Five of the complaints are closed, according to public documents on file with the St. Johns County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller.
The homebuyers allege damages between about $1.1 million and nearly $2 million for purchase of lots and payments made on contracts for homes that remain unfinished.
The subcontractors claim damages of as much as $228,000 because Pineapple allegedly failed to pay for materials delivered to home sites.
Yawn and Shafer told the Daily Record Feb. 13 they hoped to move to Nocatee in June and were trying to find financing. Yawn said they paid The Pineapple Corporation $1.3 million — her life savings.
“I’m not rich. We are not famous like a movie star. I’m on reality TV,” she said.
“It’s been really disturbing and very mentally stressful. Just terrible. We had our cries. We had meltdowns when we found out that all of our money was missing,” Yawn said.
“I’m proud of our Property Crimes Unit detectives, who worked tirelessly for those who have been financially devastated by this crime,” St. Johns County Sheriff Rob Hardwick said. “This is a challenging case that involves a suspect who used his position of trust to defraud our citizens, many of them using life savings to provide a home for their family. The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office is committed to assist the victims as we continue our investigation.”
First Coast News, who first reported Spencer’s arrest late Feb. 22, included a statement from Yawn:
“We are grateful for the hard work from the detective who is working the case and made this possible,” she said.