Gov. Rick Scott’s wife may have broken Florida law by loaning more than $100,000 to an accountant who works for the investment firm that manages the governor’s $215-million blind trust.
First Lady Ann Scott’s loan to Cathy Gellatly was disclosed in late July in a federal financial disclosure form filed by Republican Scott as he runs for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Bill Nelson. Because Senate disclosure rules are vague, the loan could have been for as much as $250,000.
Gellatly is an accountant at Hollow Brook Wealth Management, the New York boutique investment firm that acts as the trustee of Gov. Scott’s blind trust. Previously, Gellatly was for more than a decade the corporate accountant for Scott’s private investment firm, Richard L. Scott Investments.
Florida’s qualified blind trust law, passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Scott on May 1, 2013, prohibits public officers like the governor from attempting to influence the management of assets in the blind trust.
Likewise, the law generally forbids public officers or persons with a “beneficial interest” in the blind trust, in this case Ann Scott, from having “any direct or indirect communication with the trustee with respect to the trust.”
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