Georgia man stole $1.4 million from Manatee in fraud scheme, prosecutors say
.jpg "Ezekiel Deshaun Chester, 26, pleaded no contest to charges of scheme to defraud and money laundering after prosecutors said he was involved in a scheme that cost Manatee County nearly $1.4 million.")
A Georgia man accused of helping carry out a fraud scheme that cost Manatee County nearly $1.4 million pleaded no contest to felony charges , according to court records.
Ezekiel Deshaun Chester, 26, entered the plea Dec. 1 to charges of scheme to defraud and money laundering, both first-degree felonies, court records show. Judge Matt Whyte accepted the plea and will sentence Chester at a later date.
Chester is one of three men prosecutors say were involved in a 2023 fraud that targeted the Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller’s Office. Investigators say officials were tricked into sending two wire transfers totaling $1,370,631 to bank accounts controlled by the suspects after the group posed as representatives of Neal Land and Neighborhoods, a Lakewood Ranch-based development company, seeking payment for work on an extension of Fort Hamer Road in Parrish.
Prosecutors dropped a related conspiracy charge as part of the plea, records show. Chester now faces sentencing on the two remaining counts, each punishable by up to 30 years in prison under Florida law.
An attorney representing Chester did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
According to an arrest report, the clerk’s office sent an email in March 2023 to legitimate Neal Land representatives detailing how much the county would pay for the project. Investigators say an unknown third party then began responding to the clerk’s office emails while posing as Neal Land representatives and requested that the payment be switched from an in-person check to a wire transfer.
Georgia man pleas no contest in Manatee fraud case
Detectives say the impostor sent fraudulent documents on Neal Land letterhead, including a falsified W-9 tax form, a standby letter of credit and a letter of account verification, to support the request.
A little more than a week later, investigators say, the clerk’s office sent a wire transfer of $221,165 to a bank account linked to the scheme. According to an arrest report, the account had a balance of $3.17 before the transfer. Days later, a second wire transfer of $1,149,466 was sent to another account tied to the suspects, the report says.
Monthly bank statements reviewed by investigators showed large withdrawals and transfers between accounts following the payments, though the arrest report did not detail the specific purchases. Bank of America later provided photo surveillance showing withdrawals at multiple branches.
According to an arrest report, co-defendant Timothy Ledford, 29, told investigators the scheme began after Chester approached him with an idea for a money-making operation. Ledford said he later provided Chester with bank account information used in the fraud.
‘Sophisticated’ fraud nets $1.4 million, clerk says
Once the wire transfers were completed, Ledford told detectives that he and Chester went to different bank branches together, where they withdrew money in the form of cashier’s checks, according to the report.
Investigators say the fraud was discovered when Neal Land representatives contacted the county to ask when they should expect payment, only to learn the money had already been wired.
Manatee County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller Angel Colonneso previously described the case as a “highly sophisticated fraud.”
“Fraud cannot always be prevented, and we will be working with the sheriff’s office to learn additional details on how this cybercrime was carried out to work with the county to further enhance our existing controls, as all protocols were followed in the transfer,” Colonneso said in a 2023 statement.
Deputies arrested Ledford and Chester in Georgia in 2023 before extraditing both men to Manatee County to face charges.
Court records show Chester’s case stretched on for more than two years as hearings were postponed and trial dates were reset several times, before prosecutors added an additional money laundering charge earlier this year.
Chester entered his plea on the day his trial was scheduled to begin, records show.
Fellow scammer sentenced in Manatee fraud case
Ledford previously pleaded no contest in May 2024 to charges of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy and was later sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail followed by 25 years of probation, the Bradenton Herald previously reported. Whyte also ordered Ledford to pay the Manatee County Clerk of Court $1,370,631 in restitution, to be paid in monthly installments after his release, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Ledford played a central role in executing the scheme by directly communicating with county officials while impersonating Neal Land and Neighborhoods representatives.
At the time of Ledford’s plea, Assistant State Attorney Justin Foster said Ledford agreed to testify truthfully and consistently with prior statements to law enforcement if Chester or a third alleged participant went to trial.
Prosecutors also previously told the Bradenton Herald that they had identified a third alleged co-conspirator, Ibrahima Biteye, but did not offer further details. As of Friday afternoon, court records do not show a Manatee County criminal case for Biteye.
Biteye was arrested in 2020 for another fraud scheme after he was allegedly caught stealing checks out of a mailbox in Georgia, according to a FOX 5 Atlanta news report.
The Clerk of Court’s Office previously told the Bradenton Herald it had recovered about $510,000 of the stolen funds. When asked for an update this week, spokesperson Jennifer Linzy said the figure has not changed but the office “still anticipates a full recovery of the funds.” She added that the investigation is ongoing and there is no timeline for when the remaining money will be received.
