Alleged Camelot Condominiums HOA theft of $1.5M shatters fire victims' trust
Fire victims learn insurance money was stolen
FOX 5 spoke to multiple victims in South Fulton of the massive fire that broke out at the Camelot Condominiums in 2020. They say they were shocked to hear insurance fraud charges had been brought against the very woman they thought would help them to get back on their feet when their home was destroyed.
SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - Two officials from the homeowners' association over the Camelot Condominiums complex on Old National Highway have been accused of stealing $1.5 million owed to victims of a fire that destroyed one of the buildings.
FOX 5 met up with some of those victims who say the fire was the source of so much hardship in the days and months that followed. They say they're shocked to learn some of it could’ve been alleviated with the insurance payout they never received.
"Somebody was really trying to help us, and we never got any help from no one," former resident Jaquoria Harris said.
Harris says her life changed forever after the January 2020 fire that destroyed her unit in South Fulton and nearly claimed the lives of her mother, her sister-in-law Kristian Smith, and their kids who were all home at the time.
Camelot Condominiums
"It was like the black smoke it was so thick you couldn’t breathe," Smith said.
"My nieces and nephews was thrown over the balcony to be saved," Harris recalled.
The kids were saved by their grandmother, who died just months later.
"My mom got real sick after the fire," Harris said. "We were just devastated."
Harris says with no place to go, and their belongings reduced to tattered ashes, she was hopeful Camelot’s HOA President at the time, Bettye Ligon, meeting with residents to get their information was a sign that help was coming.
"She told us she would call us, but we never heard from anybody," Harris said.
Former HOA President at Camelot Condominiums, Bettye Ligon (Credit: South Fulton Police Department)
In fact, Harris said her family didn’t see Ligon’s face again until almost four years later when her mug shot flashed across their TV screen tuned into FOX 5 Atlanta Friday. The South Fulton police had announced charges against her and the HOA’s current treasurer Lyndon Baldwin for stealing $1.5 million in insurance payouts from victims.
"It’s mind-blowing cause you never expect that to happen," Harris said. "Why would you want to take from people and you know what we experienced that day firsthand? You stood there with us, and watched the building burn down. You know we didn’t have anything."
Harris said the charges confirmed a gut feeling she had from the very beginning.
"The back door of the community was nailed down [so] that they couldn’t get out the back door," Harris remembered. "That’s why [the children] had to jump [over the balcony] and Bettye knew that."
Camelot Condominiums
If the allegations are proven to be true, Harris' family said they want to see justice.
"She need to get what she deserves," she said. "She need to go to jail."
South Fulton police said they have been having difficulty locating other victims because of the amount of time that’s passed, but they are asking people who were impacted by this fire to contact them immediately.