Florida AG, Polk sheriff: 8 charged in multi-state, $8.8 million bank fraud, racketeering scheme

POLK COUNTY, Fla. - Eight people are facing charges in a multi-state, $8.8 million bank fraud and racketeering scheme impacting 235 people, mainly those who are elderly, according to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. Investigators said the suspects transferred money into accounts opened and then either disbursed the money among themselves or made purchases such as new cars.

The investigation was a collaboration between the Florida Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Florida Attorney General’s Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Detectives from the Maryland State Police, Virginia State Police, Allegany County Sheriff’s Office (MD) and Florissant Police (MO) also assisted in the investigation. 

Uthmeier and Judd made the announcement at a press conference on Wednesday at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in Winter Haven. 

Who are the suspects? How are they connected?

What we know:

The suspects, who lived outside of Florida, had Polk County warrants issued for their arrests, and they have all now been extradited and booked into the Polk County Jail. 

Officials said the investigation began in April 2023, when Synchrony banks noticed suspicious activity tied to a newly opened account belonging to 27-year-old Michael Nevarez of Lakeland. The account, opened one month earlier, received a $250,000 transfer from another bank, and the funds were quickly dispersed to other accounts.

Here's how investigators said the funds were dispersed: 

• $25,000 was transferred to Nevarez’s personal Suncoast Credit Union account and taken out in cash over the following days.
• $54,710.98 was sent to several accounts linked to 26-year-old Roshado Durrant from Lakeland.
• $763.11 was sent to an account belonging to 23-year-old Hassan Phillips from Maryland.

The remainder was then transferred to Nevarez’s other personal accounts. 

Detectives also found links to 25-year-old Kevin Clayton of Lakeland, who opened a Synchrony bank account around the same time as Nevarez and was also receiving large amounts from bank accounts ranging from $15,000 to $54,000. Clayton was also transferring these funds from his Synchrony bank account to his own personal accounts. 

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Detectives were able to identify the source of the stolen account information as coming from three bank employees in Maryland: 

• 65-year-old Barbara Frazee
• 57-year-old Camala Shafer
• 32-year-old Antonio Penn

Both Frazee and Shafer were veteran employees at the bank, working there for more than 35 years. Penn was a 5-year employee from the same branch, and although he did not have authorized access, officials said he would ask the other two to log in before then taking photos of account details and login credentials. He allegedly sold this information via an encrypted messaging mobile app called "Telegram," enabling the suspects to commit large-scale fraud. 

Authorities said that the bank that employed the three victims was completely cooperative during the investigation.

Between February 2022 and June 2023, officials said that Penn brokered stolen account information to his associate, 29-year-old Okeroghene Akushe, who then sold the information to others for a profit of over $78,000. Penn received $69,750 from Akushe for the stolen account data.

Durrant, who admitted to his involvement in the scheme for two years, described his role to deputies as a "recruiter," acting as a middle-man between sellers of stolen bank credentials and buyers intending to commit fraud. He said he met Akushe through the Telegram app. According to Durrant, Akushe would send him stolen bank files, which Durrant would then forward to the fraudsters who had paid for the account information. 

Officials said Durrant maintained long-standing communications with other suspects through the app, including Phillips and Clayton, and had between 10 and 20 images of victims’ banking credentials stored on his phone. He and Phillips had a lengthy history of exchanging large sums of money dating back to 2022. Their messages contained 58 screenshots of victims’ personal identifying information. 

Additional messages revealed that Durrant and Clayton had worked together to target and compromise the same bank accounts. Investigators determined that a majority of these compromised accounts were accessed using Frazee’s credentials.

In total, detectives documented $8,842,398.25 in unlawfully accessed funds during the course of the investigation. All suspects have been arrested and charged with racketeering and felonies related to racketeering.

What charges are the suspects facing?

What's next:

The eight suspects arrested are facing the following charges:

Barbara Frazee: Conspiracy to commit RICO, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, access computer without authorization. She was taken into custody in West Virginia on a Polk County warrant, and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on a $260,000 bond.

Camala Shafer: Access computer without authorization. She was released from the Polk County Jail on June 30 after posting a $10,000 bond.

Antonio Penn: Racketeering, conspiracy to commit RICO, organized fraud, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, criminal use of personal identification information, access to computer without authorization. He was arrested on a Polk County warrant by the Maryland State Police and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on a $1,020,000 bond.

Okeroghene Akushe: Racketeering, conspiracy to commit RICO, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, criminal use of personal identification information. He is being held in the Polk County Jail on a $760,000 bond. His criminal history includes prior arrests for fraudulent use of credit cards, counterfeiting/forgery and drug sales.

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Michael Nevarez: Racketeering, conspiracy to commit RICO, organized fraud, grand theft of more than 20,000, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, criminal use of personal identification information. He is being held in the Polk County Jail on a $425,000 bond.

Roshado Durrant: Racketeering, two counts of conspiracy to commit RICO, organized fraud, two counts of grand theft of more than 20,000, conspiracy to commit grand theft of more than 20,000, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, two counts of criminal use of personal identification information. He is being held in the Polk County Jail on no bond.

Hassan Phillips: Racketeering, conspiracy to commit RICO, organized fraud, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, criminal use of personal identification information. He was arrested in Maryland on his Polk County warrant and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on a $1,010,000 bond.

Kevin Clayton: Racketeering, conspiracy to commit RICO, organized fraud, grand theft of more than 20,000, grand theft of more than $750, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, criminal use of personal identification information. He was arrested in California on a Polk County warrant, and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on an ICE hold.

‘Innocent victims across the country’

What they're saying:

"This wasn’t some small-time scam, this was a well-organized fraud ring stealing millions from innocent victims across the country," Judd said. "They thought they could hide behind mobile apps and fake accounts, but we found them. And we’ll continue to go after anyone who targets hardworking people’s life savings. Racketeering is a serious crime, and these suspects are facing serious consequences for their illegal criminal conduct." 

"Today, we announced the takedown of eight criminals who targeted seniors and stole $8.8 million from over 230 victims," Uthmeier said. "They’re facing charges such as RICO, criminal use of personal information, and other serious felonies. I’m grateful for the hard work of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in hunting these fraudsters down. Our Office of Statewide Prosecution will now get to work and hold them accountable."

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