- December 16, 2025
Cassimiro Tavares has been charged with stealing $24,801.13 from a Bunnell business, from 2008 to 2010.
A Palm Coast man has been charged with extortion, grand theft and forgery after he scammed a Bunnell-based company out of more than $24,000, according to documents from the Bunnell Police Department.
It all began in 2008, when Andrzej and Traci Tyminski, owners of A&T Auto Repair Inc., hired Cassimiro Tavares, of Palm Coast, to manage the office.
According to the police report, Andrzej Tyminski never gave Tavares permission to write checks or sign Tyminski’s name. And in July 2008, Tyminski believes Tavares began committing crimes against the Tyminskis’ business.
Most of the incidents took place between July 1, 2008, and Feb. 11, 2011, according to the report.
In July 2008, Tyminski noticed a checkbook from his office was missing. He confronted Tavares about it, but Tavares told his boss that he took it home “to handle everything.”
Tyminski told Tavares to bring the checkbook back to him, but Tavares threatened to have Tyminski — who is from Poland — deported.
Then, in September 2008, Tyminski realized funds in his Bank of America account were depleted for unknown reasons.
In October 2010, Tyminski told authorities that Tavares had created a new business, named RT Auto Sales, which was being operated out of the A&T Auto Repair business.
According to the police report, Tyminski estimated that Tavares stole between $2,800 and $4,500 per month from him and the business by forging check signatures. According to the report, Tavares forged Tyminski’s signature on 36 checks between 2008 and 2010, 35 of which were written to Tavares’ wife.
Between February 2010 and July 2010, Tavares purchased four different vehicles, and used A&T Auto Repair funds to fix the vehicles. According to the report, three of the cars were registered to Tavares at the time of the investigation.
The matter was being investigated by the IRS because of three years of unpaid taxes.
Tavares stopped working at the business Feb. 11, 2011, although he was not sent a letter of termination until March 3. At the time of Tavares’ termination, Tyminski estimated that approximately $50,000 was stolen from him.
Then, in April, Cpl. Sergio Pina, of the Bunnell Police Department, took over investigations in the case.
Traci Tyminski, who says she is a certified accountant in the police report, told deputies that she found missing cash and missing work orders from the business while preparing the tax returns for 2008, 2009 and 2010.
“Mrs. Tyminski further explained that she found money deposited into the account without work orders and found cash on work orders that were not found in the bank deposits,” the report states.
According to the report, the missing amount of money is as follows: in 2008, $9,257.03; in 2009, $5,773.74; in 2010, $9,222.36; and in 2011, it was $548. The total was $24,801.13.
Cassimiro Tavares, 68, was booked Jan. 19, into the Flagler County Inmate Facility on a total of seven charges — five counts of forgery, one count of grand theft and one count of threat or extortion. All were felony charges. Tavares’ bond was set at $125,000. Tavares posted bond and has since been released.
According to Klare Ly, public affairs director for the State Attorney’s Office, there have been 11 other forgery-related cases in Flagler County since January 2010.
Assistant State Attorney Josh Davis was assigned to this case, and filed charges Jan. 4, against Tavares.
Davis filed four charges of forging checks, each with a maximum five-year sentence. Tavares also faces grand theft charges, which carries a maximum of five years. The threat-or-extortion charge carries a 15-year maximum sentence. In all, Tavares is facing up to 45 years in prison.
“The State Attorney’s main objective will be to reimburse the victim,” Ly wrote in an email Wednesday morning.
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