EXTORTION? “IF YOU DON’T RESIGN…”
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Seven Bridges Delray Beach just crossed from a community with lots of drama to a community with musical theater. A Miami Attorney — in what some are calling “extortion” — demanded that a board member resign by noon on Thursday. If she didn’t, the attorney threatened the release of a report written by a founding member of the “Sha Na Na” doo-wop group.
The board member, Aliya Karvalis, refused to resign and drop out of an upcoming election. The attorney, Miami’s James Kaplan, apparently authorized the release of the report late Thursday. Several copies were sent to BocaNewsNow.com overnight. The “Sha Na Na” singer, Robert Leonard, is now a well-known “linguistics expert” utilized by attorneys in criminal and civil matters. Leonard claims that Karvalis made fake posts on a community Facebook page under the name of “Michael Stein.”
The report, which reads like the expert analysis you’d expect in a murder trial, is completely focused on whether Karvalis, a Seven Bridges board member, and candidate for re-election, posted under an alias in a private Facebook group. There is no allegation of a crime. This is part of Leonard’s report:
“I was asked to analyze the language patterns of a set of documents of questioned origin, purportedly written by “Michael Stein”, which we refer to as the ‘questioned’ or Q documents, and to determine whether they are consistent with the ‘known’ writings, or K documents, of Aliya Karvalis, which we refer to as K Aliya. Thus, given the data provided in this case, I test the following competing hypotheses: that the distribution of language patterns in Q and K Aliya is more consistent with:
Hypothesis 1 – Likely common authorship. Hypothesis 2 – NO likely common authorship. Hypothesis 3 – Inconclusive. As demonstrated by the analysis below, I find Hypothesis 1 to be the superior hypothesis. That is, the non-random distribution of linguistic patterns in Q and K Aliya are better explained as being consistent with likely common authorship.”
Karvalis denied to BocaNewsNow.com that she is the author of the Facebook posts. There are twelve property owners in Palm Beach County by the name of “Michael Stein,” but none own homes in Seven Bridges, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser. There are several “private” Facebook groups in the community of Seven Bridges — the Homeowners Association does not control membership or content.
Karvalis, who some describe as a “lightning rod” in the community, apparently has strong detractors. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an alleged attack on her home just before Christmas, in which she reported that eggs were thrown at her house by people wearing ski masks. She told police that she believed the attack may have been carried out by a rival candidate or board member. BocaNewsNow.com has learned that all aspects of the claim continue to be investigated. A police report reviewed by BocaNewsNow.com states that cameras on her home were not functional at the time of the alleged attack.
On one of the community’s Facebook pages provided to BocaNewsNow.com, homeowners largely supported Karvalis and chastised the “concerned residents and members of the Seven Bridges homeowners association” represented by Attorney James Kaplan. Several homeowners expressed disbelief that a “Linguistics Expert” would be hired to analyze Facebook posts in a Delray Beach HOA. Among the posts, this:
Seven Bridges continues to defend a federal lawsuit by a homeowner who claims that a previous board of directors engaged in discriminatory conduct. That homeowner claims that she was sanctioned for an alleged incident in the community because she is Christian, while a Jewish member of the community was not sanctioned. A federal magistrate judge refused multiple times to dismiss the case. Trial is tentatively set this year.
Andrew Colton hosts South Florida’s First News, 6-10 a.m., on NewsRadio 610 WIOD starting Monday morning. Listen on-air, on the iHeart Radio app, or ask your smart speaker to play NewsRadio 610 WIOD.
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