Swisher tax manager arrested on new embezzlement charges

Gretchen Camp, husband charged with grand theft, organized fraud

Booking photo of Gretchen Camp

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Swisher International tax manager already under investigation on suspicion of embezzling $4 million from the Jacksonville-based company was arrested again on new grand theft charges, News4Jax has learned.

Gretchen Camp, 36, was first arrested Dec. 3 on a felony charge of grand theft. She bonded out of a jail but was arrested again Dec. 19 on new charges of grand theft over $100,000, grand theft and organized fraud.

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Her second arrest came just under a week after her husband, Richard Camp, 35, was also arrested on charges of organized fraud and money laundering after prosecutors said he played a role in the embezzlement scheme. Richard Camp bonded out of jail Dec. 15.

Gretchen Camp was taken into custody in Nassau County and was transferred to Duval County, where she bonded out of jail on Christmas Day.

According to the new arrest warrant, the new charges relate to $1.2 million in refunds to Swisher from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that Gretchen Camp funneled into her personal bank account. 

That brings the total loss for Swisher to more than $5 million, the State Attorney's Office said.

Gretchen Camp's first arrest report indicated that in late 2017, she began creating bogus invoices for a company that did not supply services to Swisher International. Investigators said the fake invoices were paid to a company called Lodge and Anchor, located in Macon, Georgia. The report said the company is owned by a friend of Richard Camp.

It's estimated that $4 million was paid to Lodge and Anchor over the past year, according to the report.

The arrest report also said Gretchen Camp confessed to company executives that she created the "bogus invoices."

Investigators said it’s “abundantly clear” that Richard Camp knew his wife was stealing from Swisher and used that money to make purchases for his own benefit. 

Prosecutors said Richard Camp helped organize the scheme and used the money to buy nine vehicles since September 2017. Some of the vehicles appear to be antique collectibles, prosecutors said.

They said Richard Camp has been unemployed for some time, and Gretchen Camp was paid $80,000 a year by Swisher International.

Prosecutors said a subpoena of bank records showed large sums of money were transferred from Lodge and Anchor to a joint account owned by the Camps, and signatures on checks appear to match Richard Camp's signature.

Prosecutors said the couple used a $500,000 wire transfer from the account to buy a Fernandina Beach condominium.

Swisher International declined to comment when Gretchen Camp was arrested earlier this month.


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