Polk County Sheriff’s Office Press Release
Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested eight suspects in connection to a multi-million dollar fraud investigation impacting 235 victims across various states and totaling $8.8 million in stolen funds. The Florida Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Florida Attorney General’s Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and detectives from the Maryland State Police, Virginia State Police, Allegany County Sheriff’s Office (MD), and Florissant Police (MO), assisted in the investigation. The suspects who lived outside of Florida had Polk County warrants issued for their arrests, and they have all been extradited and booked into the Polk County Jail.
The victims were mainly targeted due to the fact that they were elderly. The suspects transferred money into accounts the suspects opened and then either disbursed amongst themselves, or made purchases such as new cars.
The investigation began in April 2023, when Synchrony banks noticed suspicious activity tied to a newly opened account belonging to 27 year-oldMichael 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:
- $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 Durrantfrom Lakeland.
- $763.11 was sent to an account belonging to 23 year-old Hassan Phillips from Maryland.
- The remainder was transferred to Nevarez’s other personal accounts.
- Detectives also found links to 25 year-oldKevin 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. Clayton is in the country illegally from Jamaica.
As the investigation progressed, detectives discovered incriminating messages, emails, and images between the suspects discussing the stolen funds.
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 and 57 year-old Camala Shafer were 35+ year veteran employees at this bank with full access to customer data. 32 year year-old Antonio Penn, a 5-year employee from the same branch, did not have authorized access but according to evidence, would ask Frazee and Shafer to log in, then he would take photos of account details and login credentials. He sold this information via an encrypted messaging mobile app called Telegram, enabling the suspects to commit large-scale fraud. The bank that employed the three victims was completely cooperative during the investigation.
Penn and his associate, 29 year-old Okeroghene Akushe, met at West Virginia University, where they played football together before transferring to different schools. Between February 2022 and June 2023, Penn brokered stolen account information to 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.
Roshando Durrant, who admitted to his involvement in the scheme for two years, described his role as a “recruiter,” acting as a middleman between sellers of stolen bank credentials and buyers intending to commit fraud. He stated that 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.
Durrant maintained long-standing Telegramcommunications with other suspects, 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.
“This wasn’t some small-time scam, this was a well-organized fraud ring stealing millions from innocent victims across the country. 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.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff
Charges:
Barbara Frazee, of West Virginia – Conspiracy to commit RICO (F1), unlawful use of a two way communication device (F3), access computer without authorization (F3). She was taken into custody in West Virginia on the Polk County warrant, and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on $260,000 bond.
Camala Shafer, of Maryland – Access computer without authorization (F3). She was released from the Polk County Jail on June 30, 2025, after posting $10,000 bond.
Antonio Penn, of Maryland – Racketeering (F1), conspiracy to commit RICO (F1), organized fraud (F1), unlawful use of a two way communication device (F3), criminal use of personal identification information (F1), access computer without authorization (F3). He was arrested on the Polk County warrant by the Maryland State Police, and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on $1,020,000 bond.
Okeroghene Akushe, of Missouri – Racketeering (F1), conspiracy to commit RICO (F1), unlawful use of a two way communication device (F3), criminal use of personal identification information (F1). He is being held in the Polk County Jail on $760,000 bond. His criminal history includes prior arrests for fraudulent use of credit card, counterfeiting/forgery, and drug sales.
Michael Nevarez, of Lakeland – Racketeering (F1), conspiracy to commit RICO (F1), organized fraud (F1), Grand theft more than 20k (F2), unlawful use of a two way communication device (F3), criminal use of personal identification information (F3). He is being held in the Polk County Jail on $425,000 bond.
Roshado Durrant, of Lakeland – Racketeering (F1), 2 counts conspiracy to commit RICO (F1), organized fraud (F1), 2 counts grand theft more than 20k (F2), conspiracy to commit grand theft more than 20k (F3), unlawful use of a two way communication device (F3), 2 counts criminal use of personal identification information (F1). He is being held in the Polk County Jail on no bond.
Hassan Phillips, of Maryland – Racketeering (F1), conspiracy to commit RICO (F1), organized fraud (F1), unlawful use of a two way communication device (F3), criminal use of personal identification information (F1). He was arrested in Maryland on his Polk warrant and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on $1,010,000 bond.
Kevin Clayton, of Lakeland – Racketeering (F1), conspiracy to commit RICO (F1), organized fraud (F1), Grand theft more than 20k (F2), Grand theft more than $750.00 (F3), unlawful use of a two way communication device (F3), criminal use of personal identification information (F3). He was arrested in California on a Polk County warrant, and is now being held in the Polk County Jail on an ICE hold.
