How County Inspector General tracked and caught three women in COVID relief fraud scheme

A suburban Lake Worth Beach woman, furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic and struggling to keep up with the cost of food and rent, pleaded with Palm Beach County for support.

"Assistance would be greatly appreciated to help me get back on my feet," the woman said in her application for federal COVID-19 relief money, which Florida counties received and managed during the pandemic.

Along with sending her a $900 food card and sending $340 to FPL to help with her utilities, the county also sent her apartment complex more than $10,500 to help with rent.

There was only one problem. She was never furloughed and her documents were fabricated, according to an investigative report published in June.

The county's Office of Inspector General found that she and two other women worked together to game the system between 2020 and 2021. The public report, which identifies them only as Applicant One, Applicant Two and Applicant Three, said the women lived at the Casa Brera apartments west of Lantana.

Two of the women worked for the apartment complex, giving them access to the company's internal system. They used that access to fabricate documents that showed past-due rent, supposed cuts to their work hours and leases that never existed, according to the report.

The scheme, investigators said, came to light after an executive for the property management company noticed large checks coming from the county and going toward the women's future rent.

Casa Brera apartments returned all $24,166 to the county, and a spokesperson for the county's inspector general said the findings are now in the hands of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The sheriff's office confirmed on Friday its investigation was still active.

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'Tearful and apologetic': Palm Beach County woman said she did not have bad intentions

The pandemic relief came in two forms: money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, approved in 2020 and commonly known as the CARES Act, along with money provided by the U.S. Treasury's Emergency Rental Assistance Program in 2021.

That money was meant for people who struggled to meet their rent or utility payments, including people who faced homelessness because they lost work hours or entire jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Palm Beach County, the Community Services Department oversaw payments for the rental assistance, demanding proof that an applicant was facing financial struggles and that COVID-19 was to blame.

The report said Applicant One, who worked and lived at Casa Brera, provided a balance statement showing $5,385 in past-due rent. The statement appeared to be signed by Applicant Two, another employee at Casa Brera.

Applicant One also offered a document — with the property management company's letterhead at the top — saying she would be furloughed. The letter had no company address or phone number and was signed simply by "Management."

“Our business has been impacted by the virus and we are having to cut hours and in some cases eliminate hours completely," the letter read. "Although this is temporary, your position is included in hours that we have to eliminate for the time being.”

She submitted two applications for rental assistance and provided similar documents both times, securing money in December 2020 and September 2021. And both times she failed to inform the county of a $750 discount she received on her monthly rent for working at the apartments, investigators found.

Joanna Starling, the regional vice president for Fogelman Properties, which manages Casa Brera, interviewed Applicant One after noticing rent checks coming from the county.

“Ms. Starling stated that Applicant One was tearful and apologetic, and explained that she did not have bad intentions but was having a hard time making ends meet," the report states. "Ms. Starling said Applicant One believed she would have qualified for the assistance, so she did not feel she had done anything wrong.”

Starling, the report said, later spoke with county investigators and called Applicant One's furlough letter "fraudulent." The company never furloughed or fired employees during the time frame in question, and her rent was up to date when she applied for assistance.

Second staffer at Casa Brera reportedly said she was in a 'tough spot'

Allegations against the second woman are nearly identical to the first. Applicant Two submitted paperwork showing past-due rent, apparently signed by Applicant One, along with the same furlough letter. The county sent more than $6,700 to help with her rent, along with $900 for food and $419 for utilities.

The management company for Casa Brera has since fired both women and forced them to move out, according to the report.

“Ms. Starling said that Applicant Two told her she understood she would not have qualified for assistance because she was employed and her rent was not late," the report continues. "She said Applicant Two was tearful and apologetic, and that Applicant Two told Ms. Starling that she applied because she was overwhelmed and in a ‘tough spot.’”

Palm Beach County had concerns about third applicant before approving her request for COVID-19 rent assistance

The third applicant reportedly lived with Applicant Two, who was already collecting financial assistance.

Investigators found that Casa Brera didn't know Applicant Three was living at the complex, and it seems the other two women helped her to make a fake lease and a balance sheet showing she was past due on rent.

Applicant Three also told the county she was a caregiver who got furloughed before her company shut down and never reopened. Her furlough letter, the report said, was nearly identical to the letters provided by the other two women. The only notable difference was a header that said "Health Care."

The county had concerns about her application, asking several times for more documentation and, for reasons that aren't immediately clear, approving nearly $7,000 in rent assistance in October 2021.

Days before clearing the check, a county employee noted that Applicant Three "has not provided unemployment award letter" and that her employer's name is "illegible in termination letter," according to the investigative report.

Investigators also called a phone number that Applicant Three had provided to the county before her application was approved. It belonged to the CEO of a Miami-based health care company, who recalled employing the woman, but not providing her with any COVID hardship letters.

Applicant Three responded to investigators on June 9, saying in a letter that she wanted to cooperate and pay any money she owed to the county.

Giuseppe Sabella is a reporter covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at gsabella@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Three Palm Beach County women caught in COVID relief fraud cases