She’s accused of fleecing $3.6 million from Jackson Foundation. Here is what we know
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Betrayal of Trust
Former Jackson Health Foundation COO Charmaine Gatlin pled guilty to bilking millions in charity funds. A look at the investigation.
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Charmaine Gatlin was on her way to becoming the top executive of Jackson Health Foundation, the fundraising arm of Miami-Dade County’s public hospital system.
She received high marks on her evaluations as the nonprofit’s chief operating officer and was described by her bossesas a “highly ethical” leader.
“I always do things for the betterment of the foundation,” Gatlin wrote in her 2021 evaluation. Two years later, she said in another evaluation that she was “refining and enhancing my skills so that I can lead as President/CEO when the time comes.”
In late October, Gatlin’s rising star imploded. She was put on paid administrative leave while an internal investigation “related to potential misconduct” got underway. In early November, she was “terminated for cause” by the Foundation’s chairman. Her termination letter, obtained by the Miami Herald, did not elaborate.
Her abrupt dismissal led to an FBI probe and a shocking revelation in May: Gatlin, 52, a Foundation executive over the past decade, was arrested on charges of fleecing $3.6 million from her former employer, fabricating fake invoices from vendors and receiving $1 million in kickbacks from them. She used the money to buy Louis Vuitton and Gucci goods, including a Vuitton bag for $4,350, and had a $15,617 rose gold golf cart delivered to her Weston home, court records show.
Her alleged defrauding of the Jackson Health Foundation, however, extended well beyond Miami, according to an indictment. It stretched all the way to Atlanta, where an unnamed “audiovisual company” and a “co-conspirator” suspected of collaborating with Gatlin submitted $2 million in “false and fraudulent” invoices to the Foundation for purported services that were instead provided to a civic organization in Georgia’s capital, the indictment says.
Atlanta connection
While the indictment doesn’t identify the company or the co-conspirator, the Herald has learned from multiple sources that Gatlin allegedly schemed with Yergan Jones, the CEO of American Sound Design in Atlanta.
Public records obtained by the Herald show Jones’ company submitted dozens of invoices to the Jackson Health Foundation that Gatlin approved between 2019 and 2024.
The indictment alleges the company’s invoices were for “audiovisual services that did not occur” at Jackson Health System or the Foundation. Instead, the Herald has confirmed those services were provided by Jones’ company to the civic organization in Atlanta, which is 100 Black Men of America, with chapters nationwide including South Florida.
The indictment further alleges that half of the Foundation’s $2 million payments to the audiovisual company were “returned” by the co-conspirator, Jones, to Gatlin’s personal bank account. And “to conceal the kickbacks,” the indictment says,they“created false invoices making it appear as though Gatlin did ‘event management’ for the audiovisual company events” at Jackson Health System or the Foundation.
Both Gatlin’s defense lawyer, David Howard, and Jones’ defense lawyer, Hector Flores, declined to comment. Gatlin pleaded not guilty to multiple conspiracy and fraud charges in mid-June in Miami federal court. Jones did not respond to an emailed inquiry by the Herald, and he has not been charged in the case.
David Zambrana, president and chief operating officer of Jackson Health System, recently told its governing board that Jackson“terminated the employees believed to be involved”in Gatlin’s alleged scheme.He did not say how many were fired nor did he identify them.
Jackson Health System spokesperson Krysten Brenlla declined toprovide more details, saying Jackson “will not be commenting on ongoing criminal proceedings.”
In a statement, the 100 Black Men of America said it was not aware of Gatlin’s alleged false invoice and payment kickback scheme with Jones and his audiovisual company, including billing the Jackson Health Foundation for services that his firm instead provided to the Atlanta organization.
Jones provided those services to the youth mentoring group for its annual conferences between 2019 and 2024 under a different audiovisual company, American Electronic Entertainment, aka, AEE Productions, 100 Black Men of America confirmed.
In fact, 100 Black Men of America said it directly paid Jones’ company more than $500,000 for his work, but the organization did not provide details of the payments.
“100 Black Men of America, Inc. has no knowledge of Ms. Gatlin’s alleged receipt of cash payments or fraudulent invoices being submitted by Ms. Gatlin or any other vendors in the indictment involving Jackson Health Foundation,” the organization said in the statement provided to the Herald, adding that “Gatlin has never been paid by the 100 BMOA as a ‘go-between’ to then pay vendors for services provided to 100 BMOA.”
Gatlin had worked for 100 Black Men of America from 2009 to 2014 before Jackson’s Foundation hired her a decade ago. During her tenure at Jackson, she continued to work with the Atlanta organization as an unpaid volunteer.After the Foundation dismissed Gatlin last November, 100 Black Men of America hired her in January as a contractor for its annual conference in 2025 —but fired her in May when the organization said it learned about her indictment.
“We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and will continue to do so until this matter is concluded,” the organization said.
Atlanta lawyer Ronald Freeman, who represents Jones’ company, AEE Productions, which provided services to 100 Black Men of America, said it was not the audiovisual company referenced in the Gatlin indictment. In a statement, he said: “We remain confident that the legal process will fairly and accurately determine the facts.”
Fraud and money laundering charges
Gatlin, a University of Florida graduate with a bachelor’s degree in French, was arrested on May 21 in a town near Savannah where she now lives. The indictment, filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Young, charged her with a single count of conspiring with other individuals to commit wire fraud, 26 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. If convicted, the charges carry sentences that could send her to prison for years.
Gatlin is accused of authorizing Jackson Health Foundation funds to pay not only Jones’ audiovisual company in Atlanta but also a store that sold designer goods and an event planning company in South Florida that created videos, a website and other services for a family member’s softball team in Broward County, the indictment says.
She’s also accused of using the Foundation’s money to buy school supplies that were delivered to a church in Riceboro, Georgia, where she lives with her husband.
After her arrest, Gatlin was granted a $30,000 bond. Court records show that one of the conditions of her bond was not to contact four contractors, including Jones, who “were paid” by the Jackson Health Foundation based on “purported invoices for goods and services approved by” Gatlin, according to the indictment.
Trail of ‘false’ invoices
By far, Gatlin’s dealings with Jones dominated her alleged criminal activity, the Herald has learned from sources and court records.
Jones’ company, American Sound Design, submitted about 40 invoices to the Foundation that Gatlin approved between 2019 and 2024 for services that his firm says were provided to the Jackson Health Foundation, according to financial documents obtained by the Herald through a public records request.
But Jones is better known as the president of AEE Productions, which on its website claims to have done business for major corporations, such as Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines and Walmart, along with NASCAR and 100 Black Men of America. The Jackson Health Foundation was also one of its clients, according to a testimonial by Gatlin, the Foundation’s former COO.
“Working with AEE Productions is always an exciting time for me. They listen to my ideas and help me create ‘the wow’ that I am looking for during each event,” reads an online testimonial by Gatlin on AEE Productions’ website. “I have been working with Yergan and his team for over 15 years and each event is better than the last one.”
In the aftermath of her arrest, AEE’s website is no longer active.
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Financial records obtained by the Herald show the Jackson Health Foundation received millions of dollars worth of invoices ranging from $5,900 to $81,500 each from Jones’ company. American Sound Design claimed in those bills that it provided lighting, sound, staging and production management services for events at Jackson Health System or the Foundation, the invoices show.
But the Gatlin indictment says that Jones’ company, though not identified by name, never provided any of these services. And it’s unclear from the indictment how many of these events hosted by the Foundation even took place.
One American Sound Design invoice for $5,900 was billed to the Jackson Health Foundation for services that Jones’ company purportedly provided at the Foundation’s annual “Guardian Angel” luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne in November 2018. The event, which featured a runway fashion show and a performance by Grammy-nominated recording artist Flo-Rida, raised over $500,000 to support the pediatric neurosurgery program at Holtz Children Hospital, part of Jackson Health System.
The Herald has confirmed the event happened. But the indictment says Jones’ company provided no services.
Another American Sound Design invoice for $30,250 was billed to the Foundation for a “back-to-school block party” that was held at Gibson Charter School in the Overtown Youth Center in August 2019. Academica, which operates the charter school, did not respond to the Herald’s attempts to verify if Jones’ company provided services for the event.
‘Future CEO’
Gatlin, who was described as “future CEO” in one of her earlier evaluations, managed the Jackson Health Foundation’s day-to-day operations while it transitioned several years ago into its current leadership structure, where the president’s job was split between Gatlin and co-president and chief development officer Flavia Llizo.
In 2023, Gatlin had an “extensive discussion” with Ana Milton and David Coulson, members of the Foundation’s volunteer board, and was given a salary increase and bonus, according to her most recent evaluation. The Foundation’s executive committee approved the raise. Gatlin’s yearly salary as the Foundation’s chief operating officer rose to about $300,000 in 2024.
When Gatlin was put on administrative paid leave last fall, Llizo became the Foundation’s CEO.
Caution label for foundation
After Gatlin’s firing and the subsequent scandal, the Jackson Health Foundation now has a “Proceed with Caution” label on the website of Charity Navigator, a nonprofit that rates U.S. charities on a variety of measures, including stability, efficiency and sustainability to help people with their donation decisions.
The charity rater references Miami Herald and South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting as the reason for the warning.
The month-long investigation and subsequent firing of Gatlin in November came after Jackson Health System discovered a “misappropriation of funds” while “restructuring” the Foundation’s leadership last year to develop stronger oversight and accountability, according to Zambrana, president and COO of Jackson Health System.
Zambrana told the Public Health Trust during its May 28 meeting that the health system had “fully cooperated” with the investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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New safeguards, including additional “financial controls and administrative oversight,” are now in place over the Foundation and Jackson has “terminated the employees believed to be involved,” he said.
“The allegations of money stolen from the public’s health system are egregious, and we are all still reeling from the profound breach of trust and the impact it has on our team, our community and the many people who support Jackson,” Zambrana said, noting that “integrity is non-negotiable.”
“We will not allow this incident to jeopardize its reputation or its momentum.”
This story was originally published July 6, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
