The former head of a small Florida Realtor association is now accused of quietly siphoning more than $81,000 from the group she was hired to lead, a case that has jolted local agents who relied on the organization’s dues-funded budget. Investigators say the alleged theft did not come in a single brazen grab, but in a steady stream of checks, bonuses, and credit card charges that added up over time. I see in the details a cautionary tale about what happens when a trusted executive faces little day-to-day scrutiny over how member money is spent.
How a local Realtor group ended up at the center of a grand theft case
At the heart of the allegations is The East Polk County Association of Realtors, a trade group that represents agents in a fast-growing slice of central Florida. According to the association, its former CEO, identified as Jennifer Garula-Mers, had her employment terminated earlier this year after internal concerns surfaced about the organization’s finances, and the group later confirmed that former CEO Jennifer Garula-Mers was the subject of a criminal investigation into suspected grand theft from the association’s accounts. In a statement referenced in one report, The East Polk County Association of Realtors, also known as EPCAR, said that former CEO Jennifer Garula, Mers had been removed from her role and that the association was cooperating with law enforcement as detectives examined how the group’s money was handled over multiple budget cycles, a process that left EPCAR describing itself as “all but broke” and vowing to put stronger checks and balances in place once the dust settles, according to an account of the Ex-CEO charged with grand theft.
Local investigators say the case moved from internal audit questions to a full criminal probe once the scale of the suspected losses became clear. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who has become a central public voice in the case, has alleged that the former CEO of the East Polk County Association of Realtors used her position to divert more than $81,000 in association funds for her own benefit, a figure that covers both direct payments and charges run through association accounts. In one detailed breakdown, the sheriff’s office described how the former CEO of the East Polk County Association of Realtors allegedly treated the group’s finances as a personal spending source, a pattern that prompted Judd to label her conduct as grand theft and to outline the impact on EPCAR’s ability to meet its obligations to members, as reflected in a report that said the former CEO of the East Polk County Association of Realtors was accused of stealing $81,000 from the organization’s budget and that the association’s own website had listed her as CEO before her termination, a sequence of events documented in coverage of the Polk sheriff’s theft allegations.
The alleged $81K scheme: bonuses, checks and credit cards
From what investigators have laid out so far, the suspected theft did not hinge on a single forged check or one-time wire transfer, but on a series of transactions that looked, at least on paper, like routine business. Sheriff Grady Judd has said that there were bonus payment checks cut to her that did not match any board-approved compensation plan, and that she also used the organization’s credit cards to make purchases that had no clear connection to member services or association operations. In the sheriff’s telling, those bonus checks and card charges were layered on top of her regular CEO pay, effectively turning the association’s accounts into a second income stream that no one else at EPCAR had authorized, a pattern that emerged only after staff and board members began to question why the group’s reserves were shrinking so quickly, according to the description of bonus payment checks and credit card use in the account of how the former CEO of the East Polk County Association of Realtors allegedly stole 81000, which was tied to a timeline that placed the public disclosure of those details on Nov 20, 2025 in one report and Nov 20, 2025 in another, both of which cited Judd’s explanation of how the money was taken, as reflected in the coverage of Grady Judd’s theft accusations.
Another account of the investigation has gone further in characterizing the conduct, quoting Judd as saying of the former CEO, “She’s a thief. She’s a con. She’s a crook,” language that underscores how aggressively local law enforcement is framing the case even before any trial. That same reporting has emphasized that the total in question is more than $81,000, a figure that has been cited repeatedly as the benchmark for the alleged losses and that has been broken down into categories such as unauthorized bonuses, personal expenses charged to association cards, and other payments that investigators say were disguised as legitimate reimbursements. I read that breakdown as a sign that detectives are trying to show a pattern rather than a one-off lapse, and that they are focused on how each piece of the alleged scheme fit into a broader misuse of member funds, a narrative captured in a story that described how the Former CEO of the Realtor group was accused of stealing more than $81K and that highlighted the phrase $81 as part of a detailed explanation of how She allegedly spent the cash, a description that was framed for readers as “Here’s how she allegedly spent the cash” in coverage dated Nov 22, 2025, which laid out the bottom line of the case in a way that made clear that the total was not a rough estimate but a specific tally of disputed transactions, as seen in the report on the alleged $81K spending.
What Sheriff Grady Judd says happened inside EPCAR
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has built a reputation for blunt, highly public briefings, and he has leaned into that style as he lays out the accusations against the former CEO. In his account, the alleged theft unfolded over a period in which the CEO enjoyed broad autonomy over EPCAR’s finances, with limited oversight from a volunteer board that trusted her to manage day-to-day spending. Judd has said that the former CEO of the East Polk County Association of Realtors treated the association’s accounts as if they were her own, authorizing bonus checks to herself and using association credit cards in ways that, in his view, crossed the line from sloppy bookkeeping into criminal intent, a distinction he has tried to draw by pointing to repeated transactions that he says had no legitimate business purpose and that were hidden from the board through vague descriptions and incomplete reporting, according to his detailed comments about the former CEO’s alleged conduct and the way she handled bonus payments and credit cards, which were highlighted in a report that placed his remarks on Nov 20, 2025 and tied them to a broader pattern of suspected theft from the association, as reflected in the coverage of the former CEO accused of stealing more than $81K.
In that same public narrative, Judd has framed the case as a warning to other small professional associations that may lack robust internal controls. He has emphasized that the alleged theft was not detected by a sophisticated forensic audit but by people inside EPCAR who eventually noticed that the numbers did not add up and that the association was struggling to pay its bills despite steady dues income. I see that emphasis as part of a broader message from law enforcement that organizations like EPCAR cannot rely solely on trust when they hand a single executive the power to sign checks, approve bonuses, and manage credit cards, especially when those decisions involve member money. By tying his comments to specific figures, such as the more than $81,000 he says was taken, and to the role of the CEO in authorizing her own compensation, Judd is not only building a criminal case but also pressing other groups to revisit how they supervise their top staff, a theme that has echoed across multiple accounts of his remarks, including those that list Nov 20, 2025 as the point when he publicly laid out the allegations and described how the former CEO allegedly abused her authority inside the East Polk County Association of Realtors.
The fallout for members and what comes next
For the agents who belong to The East Polk County Association of Realtors, the alleged theft is not an abstract white-collar crime but a direct hit to the services they expect their dues to fund. EPCAR has acknowledged that the suspected losses left the association in a precarious financial position, with reserves depleted and tough choices ahead about which programs to maintain. In one account, the association said that the impact of the alleged theft had left it “all but broke,” a stark phrase that captures how a five-figure loss can destabilize a relatively small trade group that relies on annual dues, event revenue, and limited sponsorships to cover everything from continuing education classes to lockbox systems and local advocacy, a reality that has forced EPCAR’s leadership to reassure members that the group will survive even as it works with auditors and law enforcement to trace every disputed transaction, as described in the report that detailed how The East Polk County Association of Realtors, EPCAR, CEO, Jennifer Garula, Mers became the focus of a grand theft case and how the association is now trying to rebuild both its finances and its internal controls, a process that was outlined in coverage of the local Realtor association left all but broke.
Looking ahead, the case will likely hinge on how prosecutors present the paper trail of checks, bonuses, and credit card charges and on whether a jury accepts that those transactions were part of a deliberate scheme rather than a series of poor decisions or misunderstood perks. For members, though, the legal outcome is only part of the story. I see a deeper reckoning underway about how much power any one executive should have over a nonprofit’s finances, especially when that organization is funded by hundreds of small business owners who may never read a balance sheet. The allegations against the former CEO of the East Polk County Association of Realtors have already prompted calls for tighter oversight, more frequent audits, and clearer rules around executive bonuses and expense cards, steps that other Realtor boards and trade groups across Florida are likely watching closely as they review their own policies in light of what Sheriff Grady Judd and EPCAR say went wrong inside this small but influential association.
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Grant Mercer covers market dynamics, business trends, and the economic forces driving growth across industries. His analysis connects macro movements with real-world implications for investors, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Through his work at The Daily Overview, Grant helps readers understand how markets function and where opportunities may emerge.
