“Below Deck Med”'s Captain Sandy reacts to arrest of the builder who left her home unfinished: 'This is the beginning'

Emlyn Travis
·2-min read
“Below Deck Med”'s Captain Sandy reacts to arrest of the builder who left her home unfinished: 'This is the beginning'

"We just want to enjoy our lives after this nightmare."

Below Deck Mediterranean star Captain Sandy Yawn is feeling hopeful for the future after the developer who disappeared after starting construction on her Nocatee, Fla., home was arrested on multiple money-related charges on Thursday.

“We have a badass detective John McGuire working non-stop,” Yawn said in an exclusive statement to EW. “This is just the beginning and justice has and will continue to be served.”

The Bravo reality star explained that she and her fiancée Leah Shafer are “continuing to build our home ourselves” moving forward. “Hopefully it will be done by June after our wedding,” Yawn added. “We just want to enjoy our lives after this nightmare. We are working hard to earn money to finish and now have to get a construction loan.”

<p>Ralph Bavaro/Bravo via Getty Images</p> Captain Sandy Yawn

Ralph Bavaro/Bravo via Getty Images

Captain Sandy Yawn

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a social media statement on Friday that Pineapple Corporation president Spencer Calvert, whose company Yawn purchased the $1.6 million house from in January, had been arrested and charged with “embezzling and misappropriating more than $100k in construction funds, first degree grand larceny of $100k or more, and organized scheme to defraud.”

“Calvert is the owner of Pineapple Corporation and was in contract with customers to build several homes in Nocatee’s Vista neighborhood,” the statement read in part. “The victims purchased lots from Calvert between 2019-2023, that were ultimately left abandoned and incomplete.”

It added that “thirteen initial victims came forward and reported their experience to SJSO Property Crimes Unit detectives” who, with help from investigators from the State Attorney’s Office 7th Judicial Circuit, discovered that “Calvert received millions of dollars in deposits from customers to build their custom homes and misappropriated over $15,000,000.” 

“Additionally, Calvert failed to pay subcontractors with the funds provided by the victims for labor, services, or materials provided which caused more than $900,000 in liens to be filed against the victims,” it continued. “Calvert is accused of knowingly and intentionally accepting deposits and abandoning the project without any attempt to refund or correct the situation.”

The statement concluded by noting that the investigation is still “active” and that “further details will be released when appropriate.”

A Pineapple Corporation rep did not immediately respond to EW's request for comment.

Yawn and Schafer previously told First Coast News that they invested all of their money into their custom home only for the builder to go “MIA with all of our money.” In the aftermath of their disappearance, Yawn told the outlet that she's since had to foot the bill for work crews to compete the project, and estimated that it would cost the couple an additional $800,000 in order to get it fully move-in ready.

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