VERO BEACH — Ken Kennedy, 64, is out of jail on $400,000 bail Tuesday afternoon after being arrested Monday night on four felony counts for allegedly siphoning off more than $1 million from his 90-year-old aunt’s trust assets.
Kennedy is facing one count of grand theft, one count of organized scheme to defraud, one count of money laundering and one count of exploitation of the elderly.
The arrest resulted from a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation that examined bank records showing Kennedy set up a line of credit using his aunt Clyde Hamrick Kennedy’s entrusted assets as collateral.
Court records say Kennedy ran up a loan balance of more than $1 million and used the cash to cover various routine personal expenses and overhead costs for Kennedy Groves and United Indian River Packers, and then defaulted on the loan.
Clyde Hamrick Kennedy died in August 2013.
Judge David Morgan presided over Kennedy’s first appearance Tuesday morning and set bail at $100,000 for each of the four counts. He also ordered Kennedy to turn over his passport to defense attorney Andrew Metcalf, who represented Kennedy at the hearing.
The Economic Crimes and Elder Abuse Division of State Attorney Phil Archer’s office in Brevard County is handling the prosecution due to a local conflict of interest.
