Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff's Office
LAKELAND, Fla. - Deputies arrested UPS employee Michael Rowland, 34, after he allegedly learned about a large amount of cash in a package, removed it, and then repackaged it.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, an 87-year-old Lakeland woman sent $11,000 in a package after receving several scam calls from someone claiming to be with the United States Social Security Office.
The package was dropped off at the UPS Store at 5337 North Socrum Loop Road in Lakeland.
Deputies said the next day, family members realized the victim was being scammed when they became aware of another phone call she received in which the caller demanded an additional $10,000.
The family prevented the second shipment and contacted the UPS Store to have the first shipment of the package stopped and returned.
When the family received the package on February 26, 2020, they found the package sealed inside of another box. It no longer contained the money and they contacted the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives viewed security video from the UPS store and they said it showed store employee Michael Rowland receiving the box from the victim. He is then seen taking the box into a back room, opening it with a box-cutter, removing the cash, and then re-sealing the box within a non-UPS box that he got from outside the store. The package was then prepped for shipment.
Rowland was arrested on charges of grand theft. He refused to tell detectives what he did with the money.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office said the Social Security Administration will never call requesting money be sent to them.