Veterans Charity Scam Leads To 2 Arrests

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL — Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies say two men behind a charity scam meant to part victims from their money have been brought into custody. One of the two men is accused of recruiting others and driving them around to target victims.

The series of events that led to the two arrests began to unfold Wednesday when Lutz resident Jason Parzy, 37, is accused of calling the Cash for Gold store and asking for a donation to benefit the “Florida Veterans Relief Fund,” an email from the sheriff’s office said.

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Parzy went to the Eiland Boulevard store in the Wesley Chapel a bit later Wednesday evening and attempted to collect a $300 donation, an arrest report said. Detectives investigating the “ongoing scheme,” however, had also been notified and were standing by to witness the transaction.

Detectives say Parzy signed a form that said he represented a nonprofit and was collecting money on its behalf. The problem, detectives say, is the charity Parzy claimed to represent isn’t real.

“This is an ongoing scheme involving multiple individuals still at large and falsely representing both real and fake charities without the charities’ knowledge or consent,” the arrest report said.

Parzy was charged with grand theft by fraud, scheme to defraud and fraudulently representing as a charity just before 8:30 p.m. April 26.

A little later in the evening, detectives say they came across one of those “at large” people. Authorities met up with Billy Joe Fielder, 42, of Farmington, Missouri, at the 7-Eleven at 2400 Land O’ Lakes Boulevard. Fielder was seen in the company of Parzy outside Cash for Gold, an arrest report noted. He is now accused of recruiting people to conduct the scam and allegedly dropped off Parzy outside the store.

In searching a vehicle Fielder had been in, detectives found “altered forms for the veterans relief fund,” the arrest report said. They also found a $100 check written by a different business and “a note with the address of the incident location as well as addresses and phone numbers of additional potential victims,” the arrest report said.

Fielder was also charged with grand theft by fraud, fraudulently representing a charity and scheme to defraud. During his arrest, deputies also found a needle that field tested positive for opiates in his pockets and a needle with a white clear substance in the console of the car, along with other items, the report noted. Consequently, Fielder also faces possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia charges.

Both men were booked into the Land O’ Lakes Jail. Further information is not yet available.

Booking photos of Fielder and Parzy courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office