Jacksonville, FL – 12 September 2018 – A Florida man is accused of using his position at Vystar Credit Union in Jacksonville to steal more than $5 million by buying and selling stamps. Duane Sikes also made a name as an independent film producer in Jacksonville and threw elaborate parties at his Westside home.
If you’ll recall, Vystar Credit Union was also named as the source of credit cards used in a $1.3M luxury rental car theft ring last week.
Federal prosecutors say it took 64-year-old Duane Sikes 10 years to slowly take all that money from his employer, Vystar Credit Union.
Sikes’ IMDB page says he has produced 85 movies and TV shows since 2007. A source told Action News Jax he was constantly spotted at film screenings and festivals. People who worked with Sikes said he self-funded most of the projects and claimed to have a trust fund.
Neighbors had no idea he was allegedly hiding a big secret.
“I think he lives a pretty modest lifestyle,” neighbor Brandon Jones said. “There’s relatively normal house, normal cars, normal family visits, I would have never guessed that there was going to be anything lavish coming out of there.”
According to a 15-count indictment, Sikes worked at Vystar’s corporate headquarters in Jacksonville from 1994 to 2017, and was issued checks to purchase postage for the Pitney Bowes postage meter. Some of the checks Sikes stole outright and he took others that were made out to the U.S. Postmaster to the main post office downtown and bought rolls of stamps — $3.6 million worth of stamps — and sold them to Mystic Stamp Company in New York. Mystic turned around and sold the stamps for 80 percent of their face value.
The indictment states they paid him nearly $3.7 million from 2007 to 2017.
“You never know who lives next to you,” Jones said.
U.S. marshals arrested Sikes in downtown Jacksonville, where they say he was meeting with his lawyer.
Vystar statement on the case:
“Upon our discovery that a former employee had defrauded the Company during his employment, VyStar immediately conducted a more comprehensive internal review, reported the matter to authorities and is cooperating fully with their investigation. Importantly, this isolated incident did not in any way compromise member personal information or accounts, and is immaterial to the Company’s financials. VyStar does not tolerate behavior that is contrary to our culture and high ethical values, and has taken immediate action to address the situation and even further enhance our internal processes.”
Source: Palm Beach Post
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