Certified Hawaii, which manages more than 500 local condominiums and townhouses, said it fired CEO Toni Floerke this month after she allegedly stole a total of between $50,000 to $100,000 from the owners association at three Oahu townhouses.
The money stolen from Kulana Knolls, Kekuilani and Aeloa Terrace will be replaced, said Carol Piering, spokeswoman for Dallas-based Associa, the parent company of Certified Hawaii. Associa has not yet filed criminal charges against Floerke, but might do so later, Piering said.
Floerke, a licensed real estate broker who has worked for Certified for 19 years, "misappropriated the funds by taking them from boards and Certified Hawaii and directly placed them elsewhere," Piering said. "I can’t stress enough how disappointed and upsetting it is that you put your trust in a leader and it’s too bad a dishonest person has to make our homeowners, board members, clients and employees question our integrity."
Floerke didn’t return calls for comment. She was the firm’s principal broker and a notary for 16 years and became Certified’s CEO in November 2007. Associa became the parent company of Certified Hawaii in 2006.
The theft occurred within the last two years, Piering said. Certified discovered the theft two weeks ago and immediately put Floerke on administrative leave, Piering said. The company fired Floerke two days later after gathering evidence and a "confession," Piering said.
"To say we are disappointed and appalled by her actions is an understatement," wrote Associa Senior Vice President Joey Carona in a letter to homeowner association board members.
Carona said after the company learned of the wrongdoing, "We quickly began an internal investigation to learn the scope of the problem. When presented with the significant evidence that we quickly uncovered, she (Floerke) readily admitted her actions, whereupon she was immediately terminated. We will be taking appropriate action against this former employee."
In August, Floerke was honored at Associa’s summer conference in Washington, D.C. The company put out a news release stating she had won the Roger Kramer Memorial Award, named for a former Associa executive. "The award is given annually to the CEO, president or branch office leader who exhibits traits that defined the character of Roger Kramer (including) unquestionable integrity and honesty," Associa said in the Aug. 24 news release.
"To be honored by your peers for such character traits as leadership, ethics and volunteerism is very humbling," Floerke said in the news release.
Certified manages properties statewide and collects maintenance fees for community associations. In addition to property management, the former CEO led educational seminars and training for managers, account executives and board members. She also wrote a quarterly company newsletter.
Certified, which has 142 employees islandwide, is re-auditing all accounts to ensure "we have seen and have made record of every single misappropriation," Piering said.
"Our team at Certified is working hard to show homeowners and board members they are a team of integrity," Piering said. "They are people of integrity and have always been. They don’t want this to be a reflection on them."
Certified will take the necessary actions against Floerke to recoup the funds, Piering said.
Meanwhile, the firm said it will repay the affected associations all that was stolen and ensure consistent communication throughout the process, Piering said. The company has now prohibited executives from directly managing condominium associations.
Associa published full-page advertisements in the Star-Advertiser and Pacific Business News which said, "There is something to be said for those who understand right from wrong." The advertisements did not mention Floerke’s case, but said, "We will always serve our clients with openness, honesty and transparency."
"We are communicating in all the papers to be as transparent as we feel obligated to be," Piering said. "When something like this type of misappropriation happens, we have zero tolerance. We are extremely apologetic about it. It is absolutely not how we do business."
