Bradenton cabinet company owner gets prison time after scamming customers, police say
A former Bradenton business owner who customers say scammed them out of thousands of dollars is set to go to prison.
The former president of M&L Cabinets, Nicole Anderson, 39, pleaded no contest on April 22 to a fraud charge, according to court records. She and another company executive are accused of spending over $220,000 of company funds on luxury vacations and ATM withdrawals, police say.
A judge sentenced Anderson to 21 months in prison and 20 years probation, while also ordering her to pay around $90,000 in restitution, according to court records. Anderson, who has already spent about eight months in jail, will receive credit for time served.
Police arrested Anderson and the former vice president of the cabinet company, Ryan Nobles, 45, in September 2023 following a seven-month investigation that police say uncovered over a dozen customers who were scammed out of nearly $200,000.
Anderson and Nobles’ attorneys did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald for comment.
M&L Cabinets co-owner sentenced to prison
Investigators said customers made down payments for products and services they never received.
Several police reports filed by customers said when they attempted to contact the business about their orders, their calls often went unreturned. When customers showed up to the M&L Cabinets storefront at 7320 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton, they said it was usually closed.
Since 2022, at least 20 customers filed reports with the Bradenton Police Department, according to court records. Those customers paid a combined total of $191,925 to the company without receiving their full order.
The Bradenton Police Department said in court documents that Anderson and Nobles collected “large amounts of money from customers” who placed down payments on kitchen renovations, but provided customers with nothing in return and instead used the money “for entertainment.”
Instead of providing kitchen renovations, Anderson and Nobles used the company’s money on cruises and a trip to Las Vegas, according to police.
Between August 2022 and January 2023, investigators say Nobles used his company credit card to spend $226,788 in personal expenses. Over the same period, Anderson used her card to spend over $90,000, mostly through ATM withdrawals and fees.
Judge rules in company lawsuit
A third owner, Clinton Hoy, said he was unaware any of this was going on and filed a lawsuit against Anderson and Nobles in February 2023. As a result of that lawsuit, a judge ordered Anderson and Nobles in January to pay Hoy more than $680,000, court records show.
Hoy, whose primary role with the company was as a cabinet installer, discovered “numerous discrepancies in the account” after Anderson and Nobles denied him access to the financial records, according to an arrest report.
The lawsuit alleges that Anderson and Nobles were “illegally taking and misappropriating funds of M&L Cabinets” for their own use.
“At some point, they were robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Hoy’s lawyer, Scott McKay, told the Bradenton Herald in September.
Nobles is still awaiting trial, according to court records.
