Manatee County arrests Georgia man suspected of scamming $1.4M in public funds

Manatee County Administration Building.

Manatee County deputies have arrested a Georgia man suspected of scamming the county out of $1.4 million.

Timothy Austin Ledford, a 26-year-old from Adairsville, Georgia, faces charges of scheming to defraud and money laundering, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives also issued a warrant for Ezekiel Deshaun Chester, who is wanted on charges of scheming to defraud and conspiracy connected to the case.

The arrest comes nearly three months after Manatee County authorities acknowledged being victimized in an elaborate scam.

Officials said roughly $1.4 million was stolen by fraudsters claiming to be a prominent contractor.

Officials with county government and Neal Land & Neighborhoods confirmed details of the crime at the time. Contractors claimed to be representatives of Neal Land & Neighborhoods, and called Manatee County Clerk of Court Angel Colonneso’s office demanding payments reimbursing road construction costs.

Neal Land & Neighborhoods had fronted the costs for an extension of Fort Hamer Road. Typically, the county has paid back such work by the company out of future revenues in arrangement that reduces overall costs and allows the developer to pave roads quickly.

But after outlaying $1.4 million for that work, the contractor reached out to the county in April asking about when to expect overdue payments. The Manatee County Clerk’s office told them the money had already been wired.

But Neal never received the money, nor had officials with the company asked it to be wired. Payments normally happen by way of checks issued by the county, a process that allows the funds to be easily tracked and, if necessary, stopped.

The realization prompted Colonneso to notify law enforcement.

Investigators determined scammers first reached out to Manatee County Public Works by email on March 18. While the email appeared to come from Neal Land & Neighborhoods, email responses went to another individual believed to be involved in the scam. That person has not been identified conclusively, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Randy Warren.

The individual posing as a Neal official demanded and arranged payments in several installments over March and April. The Clerk’s Office wired the money at the request of Public Works.

Detectives eventually traced the transferred funds to Ledford’s bank account. Ledford told police he had been approached about the scam by Chester and provided the bank account numbers as a place for dollars to land. Deputies say much of that money was later converted into cashier’s checks by Ledford and Chester.

With the suspects identified, deputies said a “substantial portion” of the stolen funds has been traced to bank accounts and frozen.

“We hope we’re able to get all of that money eventually back to the county, which would be good,” Warren said. “We just don’t know. It’s hard to guesstimate how much we will get back.”

Detectives are continuing to try and identify the individual who initially communicated with Manatee County officials.

Ledford is in custody at the Manatee County Jail on $350,000 bond.