Governor removes Tavares mayor from office

TAVARES, Fla. — The mayor of Tavares was removed from office Thursday, city leaders said.

Mayor Robert Wolfe is facing an insurance fraud charge and was booked into the Lake County Jail on Wednesday afternoon.

Gov. Rick Scott took action and removed Wolfe from office Thursday morning.

A prosecutor told Channel 9 the mayor is accused of filing an insurance claim for more than $9,300 in February.

According to the hundreds of pages of documents, it all began when Wolfe filed an insurance claim for a leak in his kitchen at his Lake Shore Boulevard home earlier this year.

Documents said the leak was fixed, but Wolfe claimed to his insurance provider that he found an even bigger problem.

He told his insurance company he couldn’t live there while the work was happening, documents said.

Wolfe told the insurance company that he then rented a home and paid the landlord more than $2,350 a month and spent $1,800 a month to board his dogs at the home, documents said.

When investigators became suspicious and watched both homes, they discovered he never moved into the rental, documents said.

Investigators said Wolf confessed and told them, “I never paid her any money, and it was stupid of me to make those claims and the statements.”

Wolfe was charged with one count of insurance fraud, which is a third-degree felony.

Follow Myrt Price on Twitter at @MPriceWFTV for live updates

Cox Media Group