A roofing company manager has been arrested in alleged fraudulent activity involving a roofing contract at a home in The Villages.
Melissa Skates, 52, was arrested Thursday at Safe & Sound Roofing, located at 4313 E. County Road 466 in Oxford.
A representative of the roofing company paid an “unsolicited visit” on Nov. 10 to a home in the Village of Bridgeport at Lake Sumter.
“During the course of the salesman’s visit, the victim signed what he was told by the salesman to be a non-obligatory contract to perform roofing work at the victim’s residence,” according to the arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
The salesman had the Villager sign on an iPad. The Villager showed the salesman his driver’s license upon request.
One of the documents signed electronically was a blank Notice of Commencement.
“This occurred in the victim’s kitchen and only he and the salesman were present according to the victim’s sworn statement,” the arresting officer wrote in the report.
Skates, who is a notary and the roofing company’s office manager, was not present during the encounter, the report said.
She reportedly notarized the document on Dec. 3 when the victim was not physically in her presence.
Her notary commission is valid through June 26, the report noted.
She is charged with a felony county of fraud.
Skates was taken into custody and booked at the Sumter County Detention Center. She was released after posting $2,000 bond.
