OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Two of the three charges have been dropped against a woman who runs a St. Cloud roofing company.
Investigators said Michele Krisle, who also goes by the name Shelly, was accused of placing liens on properties for work her company, TSK Exteriors, didn’t do.
The roofing and siding company has been a registered business since 2012, state records showed.
In February, Channel 9's Jeff Deal went to Krisle's work and home for comment, but she was nowhere to be found.
Investigators said customers would pay to have the roofs repaired, but Krisle would try to get them to sign an "Assignment of benefits form" that would give her company power to deal directly with an insurance company. Krisle would then fraudulently bill the insurance companies for services TSK Exteriors didn’t do, investigators said.
Investigators told Eyewitness News that Krisle would put liens on the customers' properties for work her company didn’t do. In one case, it was a $54,000 lien on a property for a roof that only cost around $14,000, investigators said.
“The fraudulent use of an assignments of benefits (AOB) agreement is a category five hurricane bearing down on Florida’s policyholders,” said Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. “Storms bring out the best in our community leaders and volunteer organizations but they also bring out the worst in others and that’s when we see the post-storm fraud. My investigative team will continue to take swift action against those who intend to exploit vulnerable consumers, especially those who are recovering from yet another active hurricane season, through the fraudulent use of an AOB.”
UPDATE: In November 2018, prosecutors dropped two of the three charges against Krisle.