Former East Polk County Association of Realtors CEO Jennifer Garula-Mers arrested for grand theft;
CEO Jennifer Garula-Mers stole over $81,000 from the realtor association<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigation culminated in the arrest of the former CEO of The East Polk County Association of Realtors (EPCAR) on Thursday, November 20, 2025. Garula-Mers was terminated from her employment with EPCAR in August 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detectives issued a warrant for the arrest of 53-year-old Jennifer Garula-Mers of Spring Hill, Florida yesterday, November 20, 2025 for Grand Theft over $20,000 and less than $100,000, F.S.S. 812.014(2)(b)(1). She was taken into custody yesterday by the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. She is being held on No Bond until First Appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our investigation found that she made unauthorized raises and bonuses to herself, and non-business credit card charges that began within a few months after she was hired in 2020. Jennifer Garula-Mers’ is a thief and stole tens of thousands of dollars from the association. I urge all nonprofit associations to have effective checks and balances in place. ” – Grady Judd, Sheriff<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Garula-Mers was hired in 2020 with an annual salary of about $80,000. Four months later in November of 2020, she increased her own salary to about $85,000, and issued several bonus checks to herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By November of 2023, Garula-Mers raised her salary numerous times without authorization. Her final annual salary was $99,472a total of $43,105.86 in unapproved increases and deposits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Records showed additional unauthorized payroll checks totaling $20,348.89, improper reimbursements totaling $2,112.97, and unauthorized $12,500 in bonuses. These checks were issued and signed by Garula-Mers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many non-business transactions were also discovered. Garula-Mers used the EPCAR credit card for: dining, shopping, personal grooming, household goods, and orders on Amazon. These purchases totaled $3,267.51.
Garula-Mers changed EPCAR’s contribution rate to her individual retirement account, netting her an additional $7,938.27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PCSO detectives found that EPCAR suffered a total loss of $81,453.92 as a result of Jennifer Garula-Mers’ fraudulent actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She will be brought from Hernando County to Polk County and will be charged with Grand Theft, $20,000 – $100,000 (F2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
***Sheriff Judd also mentioned David Stachowiak’s involvement in the case. He was arrested by the PCSO in October of 2024 and charged with: Extortion (F2), Tampering (F3), and Use of 2-Way Communication Device in the commission of a crime. He has since bonded out of jail, and his trial is pending<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former East Polk County Association of Realtors CEO Jennifer Garula-Mers arrested for grand theft;CEO Jennifer Garula-Mers stole over $81,000 from the realtor association A Polk County Sheriff’s Office investigation culminated in the arrest of the former CEO of The East Polk County Association of Realtors (EPCAR) on Thursday, November 20, 2025. Garula-Mers was terminated from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":79836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pcso"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winterhavendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/img_0581.jpg?fit=1210%2C1512&ssl=1","aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t