Former Myrtle Beach area resort manager has been indicted for fraud scheme

A Myrtle Beach area resort manager has been indicted on five counts of fraud after authorities say he defrauded the company out of almost $1 million.

A federal jury charged Troy Bittner, 53, for his alleged scheme as the manager at Carolina Pines RV Resort in Conway, where he took over more than $800,000 in a 26-month period.

Bittner is accused of using the electronic payment system to refund guests that had not canceled their reservations, according to the indictment.

But, instead of refunding the money to the guests’ credit cards, he would transfer it to his personal credit cards, the formal charges allege.

Sun Communities, which is the parent company of the park, owns manufactured homes and RV sites throughout the country.

An email seeking comment Tuesday was sent to an employee of Sun Communities.

The U.S. Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service are assisting with the investigation.

Bittner faces a could face up to 20 years in prison.

What led up to the federal indictment

The Horry County Police Department arrested Bittner Jan. 5 after he was captured on video after hours taking $81,430.00 from the park’s safe for his own use without permission from the company between January 2021 to January 2022, according to arrest warrants.

During another arrest for a separate charge, it was discovered Bittner had deposited $134.885 from the company into his personal credit card for his use without the company’s consent between November 2020 and January 2022, police say.

In that same time frame, Bittner also refunded about $497,116, $136,468 and $17,339 of the company’s money to his credit cards without their knowledge, according to police.