Bradenton cabinet company partner sentenced to prison in fraud case

The former president of a Bradenton cabinet company was sentenced to 21 months in prison after authorities say she defrauded customers who paid in some cases tens of thousands of dollars for products that were never delivered. 

Nicole Anderson, 39, a partner in M&L Cabinets, was convicted in a felony scheme to defraud over $50,000, police reported this week. She was ordered to pay $90,000 in restitution and be on probation for 20 years, officials say.

Nearly two dozen former customers of M&L Cabinets reported making thousands of dollars in down payments for unfinished kitchen renovations as well as products and services never received or rendered, police say. 

In one case, a construction company paid more than $26,000 for cabinets for various homes and never got the products, according to the criminal complaint filed with the Manatee County Clerk. In another case, the complaint says, a citizen paid more than $31,000 for cabinets and countertops that were never installed. Investigators also say M&L Cabinets did not pay for over $12,000 worth of cabinets it had received from a supplier.

Detectives determined Anderson and vice president of M&L Cabinets Ryan Nobles, 45, kept collecting money from clients while failing to deliver and charging up “entertainment” on their company credit cards, according to the criminal complaint. Based on financial subpoenas, police say Anderson used her company credit card to make purchases and ATM withdrawals that added up to nearly $90,000 from August 2022 to January 2023. During the same five-month period, authorities said Nobles charged about $220,000, using his company credit card aboard cruise ships and at casinos in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale and Las Vegas.

Both were arrested in September 2023 following a seven-month investigation by Bradenton Police Detective Michael Carpenter, officials reported.

Nobles is currently awaiting trial for felony scheme to defraud more than $50,000. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the criminal complaint, Anderson and her sibling (who was not involved with client and vendor financial transactions) as well as Nobles, who was also described as a relative, were equal partners in M&L Cabinets, which “at one point was a multimillion-dollar business.” It had been passed down to Anderson and her sibling by their parents.

The company, which had been at 7320 Manatee Ave. W., is no longer in business, according to the Florida Division of Corporations.