The Blogfather

Alleged Harwich Port embezzler built lavish compound in Florida

Jeffrey Windle was supposed to sign off on final project on May 16th

Accused Harwich Port embezzler Jeffrey Windle purchased two adjacent homes in Placida, Florida (an exclusive community in the Sarasota area of Florida) and did extensive renovations, transforming the two stand-alone properties into a luxurious compound, including two indoor pools,  docks and boats on a canal connecting to the Intracoastal waterway.   E & S Family LLC, is a limited liability corporation formed by Jeffrey and Jeannine Windle in 2006, listing its address  as 652 Main Street in Harwich Port. 

In 2006, E & S Family LLC purchased a 2100 square f0ot house at 270 Capstan Drive in Placida, FL for $1.28 million.     (Many thanks to a fellow sleuthing mom in the real estate business, whom I have never met,  who dug up this address and passed it along to  me, which gave me a base to find out all the details on the Windles in Florida.) 

Then, in June 2007, E & S Family LLC, purchased the  2,334 square foot  property next door for $1,265,000.   Jeffrey Windle then began fairly extensive renovations, as shown in the two before-and-after aerial aerial photographs (accessible to anyone at MSN Live,) including building an addition on to one property, changing the roofs to match, and redesigning  all the landscaping to make the properties have an adjoining driveway.    A Google search of Jeffrey Windle Florida shows his phone number for this property: 

I dialed it and the message said that "This person cannot take this call."  That's because he's in jail ;) All the permitting documents, referred to as "Notice of Commencement" or NOC's, are easily viewable online by visting the Charlotte County website and typing in Windle.    As of Friday,  May 16,   neither of the two daily newspapers in the area had reported anything about Jeffrey Windle's arrest.    I have called 3 of the subcontractors who filed NOC's and told them about Jeffey's arrest.  None of them had heard anything about it and in fact were wondering why they hadn't heard anything  from Jeffrey in awhile (he was arrested May 2).   Two of the other subcontractors had  filed liens prior to Friday  (also accessible on the same website); maybe or maybe not because they knew of Jeffrey's arrest.

A source I spoke to stated that Jeffrey, who rarely visited the properties, in fact was expected to arrive on Friday, May 16  to sign off on all the paperwork for the completion of all the work on the compound.   Needless to say, Jeffrey did not show up that day, being that he was in federal custody and being held without bail.   Jeffrey told this source that he was planning to spend only 2 t o 3 weeks per year at this place.   Jeffrey had "at least 3 boats" at this compound according to the source.    I alerted the local daily newspaper of Jeffrey's arrest and they are going to report it.  I'm glad to hear this so that the subcontractors who did work on his compound can be informed and file the necessary liens.     The person acting as general contractor for the project is in fact the person who used to own the second house that Jeffrey bought, and has been supervising the project for the last 4 months.    The project has been only very recently completed and is ""quite impressive" according to a source.   Jeannine Windle and the children have reportedly been to the houses for brief periods of time.

Above:  Photos of one of the Windles' Florida houses.

I have stated the facts.  The photographs speak for themselves.    My question is, why did Jeffrey buy these houses and do this renovation?  Was he planning to leave his job in Natick and move his family to the Florida compound?  Was he planning to sell the Florida compound to make a profit (my husband says no, if you wanted to flip the houses you'd never combine two houses, you'd sell them separately--he's right, I think.)  Did he think that Cambium Learning, Inc. (the company he is accused of stealing from) would simply fail to notice the missing millions and that he, Jeannine, and the kids would enjoy a peaceful early retirement in Florida?

Personally, this whole Florida thing takes my breath away and I find it quite unbelievable.  Yet the facts and the photos are there for anyone  to see.    This whole case just gets weirder and weirder.  I can't believe he bought two houses in Florida for a combined $2.5 million with allegedly stolen money.  I can't believe he spent another half million (according to one estimate I heard) making it into a compound with two houses, two pools, and docks for three or four boats.  I can't believe no one down there knew about it until I told them, and I can't believe someone would supposedly steal all this money and then not leave the country before getting caught.   Truth is truly stranger than fiction.

Anyone with any information or pictures re: the Windles , please email me.

Scroll down to read my three previous blog postings about Jeffrey Windle.