Sheriff: Polk residents defrauded county's CARES Act program, received thousands they didn't deserve

LAKE WALES, Fla. - Several suspects from Polk County received $2,000 in federal CARES Act Funds intended for residents who were financially impacted by the pandemic -- but they didn't qualify for the program, detectives said.

During a Friday press conference, Sheriff Grady Judd said the fraud started with 49-year-old Phyllis Tirado -- who didn't apply for the funding herself -- a manager of McDonald's located at 416 West Central Avenue in Lake Wales.

Officials said she "felt sorry" for one of her employees, 34-year-old Ebony Chaney, who didn't qualify for the funds, officials said.

"[Tirado] felt sorry for her employees," Judd explained. "Thought they could use some extra money so she dummied up a letter for one."

Then, he added, Chaney gave the form out to others to duplicate. Among the ten suspects were employees with Publix, Language & Literacy Academy for Learning, and Scott Lake Health and Rehabilitation. 

"Yesterday," Judd said, "when we started arresting people. If you were in line at McDonald's…and you got your hamburger and it was cold, it’s because we were arresting people."

The suspects took official documents to piece together the fraudulent application for the Polk CARES Act program, the sheriff explained.

"In some instances," Judd said, "they took signed forms, scanned them in…and then wrote the information in. interestingly enough, in one of them, they spelled Phyllis' name wrong. The people working in the program for the county caught them."

Deputy County Manager Joe Halman said the county received $126 million from the CARES Act, and officials set aside $53 million for residents.

"The whole idea was to make sure that the money got into the hands of those who needed it the most," he said.

Halman said that while the county doesn't have figures on the number of qualified people who didn't receive the funding, he said there was a waiting list.

The full press conference can be viewed below:

Judd said six of the ten suspects were receiving some form of financial assistance from the government. He added that dozens of other residents could face charges as the investigation is still ongoing. 

"Certainly, we believe there are others who complicit. We also need the community’s help. If you know somebody, you can help speed up this process and give us a call," the sheriff said. "COVID is no joke. People are suffering with the illness and people are suffering because of the illness."

"If you violated the law and got money, we may not know it at this point of the investigation," Judd added, "but we are continuing to go through documents…and we will get to you. I would give that money back before we figure it out."

The sheriff's office released the following information on each suspect:

Brittany Capers, 27, of Lakeland: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID. Capers was receiving unemployment benefits at the time of her arrest. 

Ebony Chaney, 34, of Lake Wales: Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Fraud, Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, Cheating/Gross Fraud. Chaney was receiving food stamps at the time of her arrest. 

Ermanne Henry, 43, of Lakeland: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID. 

Mervin Suttle, 36, of Bartow: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID. Suttle was receiving food stamps and unemployment at the time of his arrest. 

Patricia Taylor, 38, of Lakeland: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID. She was employed as an LPN at a nursing home. 

Phyllis Tirado, 49, of Lake Wales: Charged with Conspiracy to Commit Fraud, Obtaining Property by Fraud, and Cheating/Gross Fraud. Tirado did not receive any money, but provided a fraudulent document to an employee. 

Takila McBurrows, 36, of Lake Wales: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID. McBurrows was receiving food stamps at the time of her arrest. She told deputies that she works as a para-educator. 

Tashai Newman, 43, of Winter Haven: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID. Newman was receiving food stamps at the time of her arrest. 

Derrick Dawsey, 50, of Lake Wales: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID. 

Dominique Frasier, 36, of Lakeland: Charged with Obtaining Property by Fraud, Grand Theft, and Criminal Use of Personal ID . Frasier was receiving food stamps at the time of her arrest. She was employed as a CNA at a nursing home.