A notary has been arrested after allegedly falsifying documents for a friend while working at local fruit business.
Deborah Ann Alonso, 65, of Wildwood, was arrested last week on a felony charge of fraud in connection with the 2019 incident.
Alonso fraudulently notarized property documents that were later submitted to the Sumter County Clerk of Court, according to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, Alonso was working at Jennings Citrus located at U.S. 301 and County Road 466 in Oxford. The notarization took place at Jennings Citrus.
Alonso notarized documents removing a husband’s name from a property record while leaving the wife’s name in place. When the husband’s name was removed, it was replaced with the names of his brother-in-law and stepson.
Recently, the wife confided in Alonso that she was having “issues” with her husband over the ownership of the properties, the report said.
The husband submitted proof to the sheriff’s office that he was in Jacksonville on the day in 2019 when his signature had been notarized by Alonso at Jennings Citrus.
During an interview with deputies, Alonso “acknowledged that a notary’s responsibility includes verifying the signer’s identity and the signer must be in their presence when notarizing the document,” the report said.
Alonso was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $2,000 bond.