SARASOTA COUNTY (WFLA) – The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office stopped $4.15 million from getting into the wrong hands.

Deputies arrested eight suspects believed to be involved in an alleged fraud scheme following a lengthy investigation.

It all started in Nov. 2020 after Sarasota County government employees contacted the sheriff’s office about suspected fraud. It was through a partnership between the county’s Office of Financial Management and the Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller that employees were able to flag 200 suspicious CARES Act applications. Once detectives started investigating, they found 114 of the applications were submitted by SRQ Financial Solutions LLC, a business located at 4034 N. Washington Blvd., in Sarasota.

Sheriff Kurt Hoffman described SRQ Financial Solutions LLC as a tax preparation business.

“The ringleader of the operation is Peria Rhodes. SRQ Financial Solutions is registered under her name. She ran the operation and submitted the application on behalf of her clients,” said Sheriff Hoffman. “In total, more than $319,000 was released because of her applications. A few appeared to be legitimate. The majority of which are fraudulent,”