Comer charged with theft of funds

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Michael Comer, who is accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Glenmore Community Association, was released from jail Tuesday on $50,000 bond after being charged with five counts of embezzlement.

Comer, 45, had been missing since July 1, when he failed to show up for a meeting to discuss an audit of the upscale neighborhood’s homeowners association’s finances. Comer had long served as the organization’s treasurer.

Comer’s disappearance prompted a massive search of the wilderness surrounding Nelson County’s 11,000-acre Wintergreen Resort, where Comer owns a vacation home.

The audit, released last week, found that $666,446 was missing from the homeowners association’s operating and reserve accounts. In a news release, the association’s board blamed the losses on “apparently unauthorized activity by Mr. Comer over the last four years.”

Following the revelations included in the independent audit, Albemarle County police and the FBI began investigating the case as a criminal matter.

On Monday, Comer called his wife and told her he was at Wintergreen, the resort’s spokeswoman said. He apparently agreed to turn himself in to authorities and was shortly thereafter taken into custody by Wintergreen Police at the resort’s Mountain Inn ski lodge.

“He called his wife, I guess on his cell phone, and told her where he was,” said Wintergreen spokeswoman Dana Quillen. “She called the police ... They agreed their rendezvous point would be the Mountain Inn.”

It was unclear Tuesday if Comer had been at Wintergreen Resort for the entirety of his 27-day absence or if he had been hiding somewhere else.

Comer — who police said was uninjured and in good health — was turned over to Albemarle police and questioned by investigators Monday evening.

He was charged with five counts of felony embezzlement in connection with the missing Glenmore Community Association money, said Lt. Todd Hopwood of the county police.

The investigation is ongoing, Hopwood said. “There’s a paper trail,” he said. “There’s a lot of things they have to put together for a successful prosecution.”

At a Tuesday morning bond hearing, Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford argued that Comer should be kept in jail because he was a flight risk, according to reports. Albemarle General District Judge William G. Barkley ultimately decided that Comer would be released, but not before posting a $50,000 bond, surrendering his passport and agreeing to live at his home on Milton Village Lane near Glenmore.

A call to Comer’s lawyer, Charles Sipe, was not immediately returned Tuesday. A call to Comer’s home was not answered.

Jeff Gaffney, Comer’s brother-in-law, said the family is simply glad that Comer has been found alive.

“We just thank God Mike Comer is alive and safe and will hopefully be home with his family this evening and see his wife and children,” Gaffney said. “And we’re just very grateful for the support we’ve received from the entire Charlottesville community, and we will deal with the next steps accordingly. But we are just very thankful for all of the support and thank God that he is OK and alive.”

Gaffney, who is chairman and CEO of Real Estate III, is a top official with Glenmore Associates, which owns Glenmore’s country club and surrounding property. Glenmore Associates, Gaffney has said, will pay full restitution to the Glenmore Community Association. At the time of his disappearance, Comer was a senior official of Glenmore Associates and was president of the Glenmore Country Club.

Trevor Joscelyne, president of the Glenmore Community Association, echoed Gaffney’s sentiment about Comer.

“We’re obviously pleased that he’s safe and sound and back with his family,” he said. “Other than that, we have no information and nothing to say.”

The community association represents upward of 700 homeowners and has a budget of $732,000 for 2009. As of May 31, the organization reported $983,000 in assets.

Brian McNeill is a staff writer for the Daily Progress in Charlottesville.