MIAMI – A 43-year-old woman appeared in court on Wednesday accused of financial crimes related to her role as the director of finance at Scheck Hillel Community School, a Jewish co-ed private school in Ojus.
Detective Nicholas Pauzuolis accused Jennifer Tirado of performing over 30 fraudulent transfers to steal about $245,000 — including nearly $40,000 she withdrew at the Coconut Creek Seminole Casino.
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“Over $28,000 were point-of-sale debits at the Coconut Creek Seminole Casino,” Pauzuolis wrote, adding these were within a three-week period.
Miami-Dade County correctional officers booked Tirado on Tuesday at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for crimes she had been accused of since 2021.
The school’s leadership reported their suspicions that Tirado had been stealing from the school on Jan. 12, 2021, and terminated her on Nov. 2, 2021 — during the police investigation.
Pauzoulis found evidence that Tirado was sending most of the transfers to a Navy Federal Credit Union account that she had opened in 2019, according to an April 12 arrest warrant.
Pauzoulis reported the other transfers were to a JP Morgan Chase account, and the owner had transferred most of the stolen funds to Tirado’s credit union account, according to the warrant.
Prosecutors filed a case against Tirado on April 13, court records show. She is facing charges of grand theft, over $100,000; and organized scheme to defraud, over $50,000.
A bond court judge ordered Tirado to stay away from the Scheck Hillel Community School or the school’s employees and set her bond at $50,000, but she still has to prove that the money used to post bail is not the result of illegal activity.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Michelle A. Delancy is presiding over the case.