BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Bradford deputies arrested the former Director of the Bradford County Library for credit card fraud one day after the county manager fired him.
Robert Eugene Perone, 61, of Starke, was charged with grand theft and illegal use of a credit card. Detectives wrote in a sworn complaint that the former county employee stole over $12,000 from a nonprofit organization that supports the library.
According to the complaint, members of the Friends of the Bradford Library, Inc., a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit, reported that the organization’s cash balances had dropped from $17,000 in December 2022 to $1,800 the following December. They added that Perone had the only ATM debit card issued by the nonprofit, and they suspected he had withdrawn the money for unauthorized uses.
“(A witness) had requested several times to obtain the bank statements of the Friends of the Library from Perone, but he did not fulfill the request,” wrote Detective Joseph Shiller in the complaint. “(The witness) was able to get copies of the statements and noticed several unauthorized ATM withdrawals from Capital City Bank between February 28, 2023, and March 3, 2024, of 48 transactions totaling $10,630. There were also 4 unauthorized withdrawals from August 8, 2023, to August 27, 2023, for a total of $1,315.96 from VyStar Credit Union.”
Video surveillance from Capital City Bank showed the 61-year-old making a cash withdrawal using the ATM debit card owned by the nonprofit.
Detectives reported that County Manager Scott Kornegay allowed them to search the defendant’s desk, where they found receipts from McHenry’s Irish Pub and a cash withdrawal from Capital City, which matched transactions on the nonprofit’s bank statements.
The officers wrote that they interviewed Perone about the transactions, and he claimed he could not remember them. He admitted to accidentally paying a personal Comcast bill using a Friends of the Bradford Library, Inc. ATM debit card.
Detectives concluded that the defendant stole $12,843.12 from the nonprofit, which accepts tax-deductible contributions and uses the funds to support the library’s mission.
Kornegay said he had no immediate plans to replace the former library director. Instead, Tricia Wylie, the director of the New River Public Library Cooperative, will take over Perone’s duties in Starke while retaining her responsibilities with the co-op.
The co-op was created in 1996 by an interlocal agreement between Bradford, Baker, and Union counties to provide administrative support to its member libraries.
Kornegay said the county would save around $80,000 a year, with Wylie assuming Perone’s responsibilities.
