Keys man among 9 arrested in scheme to defraud Lee County
A Florida Keys man is among nine people arrested throughout the state Thursday in a contracting scheme that bilked the Lee County Port Authority out of more than $700,000.
Joseph Sucharzewski, 69, of Key West, was one of several “ghost employees” whose names were placed on time sheets by an overnight shift supervisor of a company called Triangle Services of Florida Inc., which provided janitorial services to the port authority, according to a Florida Department of Law Enforcement press release.
That supervisor, Solomon Cokes Jr., 82, of Lehigh Acres, approved the time sheets and submitted them to the port authority for payment, police say.
Sucharzewski and the other ghost employees, who never did any work for the company, received payroll checks directly into their personal bank accounts, and portions of that money were funneled to Thomas Brennan, 71, of Fort Myers, who owns Triangle Services, according to the release.
Brennan, who police say is the ringleader in the scheme, was arrested on racketeering conspiracy, organized fraud, official misconduct grand theft and money-laundering charges.
The investigation began with a January 2018 audit by the Lee County Clerk of the Court Office of Inspector General. According to the FDLE press release, after the audit was announced, Brennan ordered all on-site time cards “destroyed in an attempt to conceal his crime,” the press release states.
Sucharzewski and the other ghost workers face racketeering conspiracy and organized fraud charges. Cokes, of Estero, was arrested on the same charges.
The others arrested were: Timothy Cooke, 72, of Lehigh Acres; Jeffrey Ashby, 58, of Cape Coral; Debra Hill, 43, of Lehigh Acres; Thomas Quinn, 82, of Fort Myers; Harry Rodda Jr., 49, of Fort Myers; and Dario Zuljani, 70, of Cape Coral.
One other suspect, Kim Ormiston, 62, of Fort Myers, remains at large.
Sucharzewski is being held in Monroe County jail on Stock Island. Before retiring, he was director of operations of a chain of convenience stores in the Keys called Dion’s Quik Mart, which is locally popular for its fried chicken.
