TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa business magnate, Miller Cooper, 82, has filed suit against an on-again-off-again girlfriend for theft of $500,000. Cooper owns Sago Networks and Synergy Internet but has been listed as the founder of various other companies through the years.
Tampa real estate agent, Heather Scott, whom Cooper is trying to locate through a private investigator, has been missing in action since Cooper’s half-million was withdrawn from the couple’s joint bank account.
According to the lawsuit, Scott allegedly withdrew $495,000 in September from Bank of America and deposited it into a privately-owned SunTrust account. The remaining $5,000 was placed in a separate Bank of America account under Scott’s name.
Cooper had agreed to a joint venture to purchase a home for the two of them along with Scott’s daughter. Months passed as Cooper’s money sat in the account and Scott claimed she couldn’t find a satisfactory home near the school she wished for her daughter to attend.
Meanwhile, Cooper sought to boost Scott’s income so that she could proceed with a real estate acquisition and participate in paying for a home. To assist her, he gave her a job at one of his companies.
Scott was in the process of a divorce from Donald John Garon in 2019 when Cooper first started making deposits into their joint account after the closure of a lucrative business deal. Garon filed a domestic violence complaint against Scott, which he eventually voluntarily dismissed.
However, the judge granted him extended temporary injunctions against Scott. He claimed she assaulted him numerous times and threatened to stab him to death and dump his body. She also allegedly engaged in a fist-fight with her mother in the presence of her daughter and guests. She was arrested in June 2019. Garon could not be reached for comment.
According to the language of the lawsuit which seeks to freeze the funds Scott allegedly stole, Cooper’s desire was to give Scott and her daughter, whom he cared for, a better life. He became frustrated when months passed and no home was acquired for the couple. Scott insisted she had a current lease to fulfill and couldn’t find anything desirable in their price range within her preferred geography.
Recently, it appeared she could be located, but it was only temporary. One of Scott’s daughter’s grandfathers, who was not identified, was found cooperative in linking Cooper to Scott’s location. But he rescinded the offer to help, stating he would never see his granddaughter again if he helped Cooper’s efforts to find her.
Cooper’s attorney, R. Gale Porter of Porter Law in Tampa was asked for an update today regarding Scott’s whereabouts. “She has not yet been found,” he said.