By Mary Thurwachter
Natasha Deonath, a former sales director at the Carlisle senior living community in Lantana, was sentenced on March 7 to 18 months in prison for charging the business more than $100,000 for phony resident referrals and taking kickbacks.
The sentence was handed down by Circuit Judge Dina Keever after Deonath, 39, pleaded guilty to one count each of organized scheme to defraud and money laundering.
According to an October 2014 Lantana police report, officials at the senior living facility at 450 E. Ocean Ave. noticed that one real estate agent was being paid for an unusually high number of referrals.
Carlisle officials suspected Deonath of receiving kickbacks for referrals. Many referrals came from Realtor Glenn Gatti of Royal Palm Beach, according to the police report. Fourteen people listed as being referred by Gatti said they did not know him, according to the report.
Investigators determined that Gatti would receive checks for referrals, but that some of the apartments were never rented and some were already occupied. Police said that Gatti would, in turn, send checks to Deonath. Some of them were endorsed by Deonath’s husband, Rodney Jagessar, a Lake Worth Realtor.
Jagessar, 41, was sentenced to five years’ probation and Gatti, 64, was given two years’ probation.
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