Winter Haven Teacher Steals $66,000 From Grandmother: Sheriff

WINTER HAVEN, FL — A Winter Haven teacher was arrested Friday on felony charges for stealing more than $66,000 from her 83-year-old grandmother, Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

Laura Pollard Ramos, 40, who is a teacher at Dundee Ridge Middle Academy, became power of attorney for her grandmother in 2013, investigators said. Her grandmother started experiencing declining health. The grandmother's bills were $550 a month. Ramos wrote checks from the victim's account to take care of bills, and withdrew cash from the ATM as needed for her grandmother, police said.

In October 2020, authorities said the victim received a PayPal credit card bill in her name she was unaware of. Family members were informed about this bill by the grandmother. When family members looked into this, it was discovered that the bank account had a a negative balance, deputies said. The Polk County Sheriff's Office began an investigation on Ramos.

Investigators discovered that in November of 2018, the victim's account had $66,836 and started to see major decreases with payments to PayPal, restaurants, Epcot, Hot Topic, Planet Fitness, Capital One, Nissan, Amazon, Bank of America, Publix ATM cash withdrawals and Badcock.

Law enforcement officials have accused Ramos of depleting her grandmother's account to -$193 from November 2018 to November 2019 and maxing out three credit cards that she opened in her grandmother's.

“This suspect is the lowest of the low, betraying the trust of her own grandmother, taking advantage of her during a great time of need by completely wiping out her life savings. She’s despicable," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "And she’s a teacher on top of it—someone who is entrusted with shaping and molding young, impressionable students. What an awful role model she is.”

The grandmother died in February, deputies said.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said Ramos was arrested Friday afternoon at Dundee Ridge Middle Academy on charges of grand theft of a person over 65-years-old, scheming to defraud over $50,000, fraudulent use of a credit card and criminal use of personal ID.