Felony fraud charges dropped against former Western High School debate coach accused of not paying $16k catering bill – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) – The Broward State Attorney’s Office has decided to drop felony fraud charges against a former high school debate coach accused of defrauding a debate tournament caterer.
Dario Camara,43, was an English teacher and the director of the speech and debate club at Western High School in Davie when he was arrested after Exquisite Catering by Robert filed a complaint stating that Camara never covered the roughly $16,000 tab for the catering services he ordered for a debate tournament held over the course of three days.
After a thorough review of the case it was determined that Camara did not act with the intent to defraud, with the Assistant State Attorney Erin Veit writing in a close-out memo, “The food was ordered for legitimate purposes, and Camara derived no personal gain.”
Further more, there wasn’t a written contract between the catering company, the vendor who provided the food, and Camara, according to the memo, and because of the lack thereof it wasn’t explicitly stated who will cover the bill.
When the lawsuit was initially filed 7News spoke with the company’s lawyer, Peter Sitaras, who detailed the several instances in which Camara placed orders from October of 2022 through April of 2023, all of which went unpaid.
“There was a gentleman named Dario Camara, and he’s a debate teacher at Western High. He said in October of 2022, ‘Oh, we need catering services for this debate tournament,’” said Sitaras.
Camara was the vice president of operations at Florida Forensic League in which a lawsuit was filed against the organization and Camara for a similar occurrence.
“Then, in April, he had two more catering events, so same deal. He said, you know, ‘Another event, please cater it, we’ll pay you, just bill it to Florida Forensic League,’” said Sitaras.
In this instance, the Florida Forensic League settled the lawsuit between the company for $4,000, resulting in the case being dismissed against the group and Camara.
Camara was also reportedly investigated by Davie Police on two separate matters; one involving allegations that he used a former roommate’s identity to withdraw funds from a debate club account and another involving accusations of inappropriate texts exchanged between Camara and a minor.
No charges were filed in either case due to a lack of evidence.
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