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Third person arrested in Tallahassee check fraud scheme
TTallahassee

Five more arrests in $1.7M property damage scheme, court records show

  • April 18, 2026

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Five more people have been arrested in connection to a million dollar property damage fraud scheme.

These latest arrests bring the total up to 21 people, including state employees, charged in the alleged $1.7 million scheme.

Officers initially arrested Brianna McCarthy, who is accused of approving fraudulent property damage claims while she was working as a Risk Management Program Specialist for the Florida Department of Financial Services.

Following her arrest, five more people were arrested, including two former state employees. Later, four more people were arrested on fraud charges. Earlier this month, six more people were arrested, including McCarthy’s mother and another state employee.

The latest arrests include Amber Wyartt, McCarthy’s sister.

Arrest documents say she collected two checks worth over $16,000 after filing false claims with the Department of Risk Management. Documents show she also allegedly recruited several people to participate in the scheme.

Along with Wyartt, Olivia Ewers, La’Shandra Payne, Aulegra Sapp and Tierre Darity were arrested.

All of them face multiple charges including Grand Theft and cashing an item with intent to defraud.

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  • Tags:
  • Court records
  • defrauding state of florida
  • Florida Department of Financial Services
  • Fraud
  • fraud scheme
  • property damage scheme
  • state employees arrested
  • Tallahassee
  • Tallahassee Headlines
  • Tallahassee News
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