Philadelphia woman bought a Brazilian butt lift with COVID relief funds stolen from Florida, prosecutors say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Philadelphia woman was charged and accused of stealing COVID-19 relief funds meant for a city in South Florida — allegedly using the money to fund luxury purchases, money transfers to other people and a Brazilian Butt Lift cosmetic procedure.
Ashley Stibbins-Parker, 30, is facing charges including fraud, money laundering and grand theft in excess of $100,000, court documents show.
The documents filed in court in Broward County, Florida, allege Stibbins-Parker somehow got ahold of a check worth about $184,000 that was mailed in February 2021 from the county to the City of Weston, Florida.
The check, however, never arrived at Weston's city hall, a city official told investigators. The following month, Stibbins-Parker opened a checking account at a Bank of America branch in Sandy Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
Court documents say the account was in the name of City of Weston LLC and funded with the missing check, which was COVID-19 relief funding paid to the city via the county through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Security (CARES) Act.
After the account was set up, Stibbins-Parker withdrew money from the account several times and sent funds to multiple people, including $40,800 to a woman and $78,500 to a property development company based in Orlando, Florida. Another group of transactions sent $8,800 to a Snellville, Georgia woman.
It was not clear from court documents whether any of these people were facing criminal charges.
The documents say on March 30, 2021, Stibbins-Parker went to Adore Plastic Surgery and paid over $6,200 for a medical procedure listed as "fat transfer to buttocks (Brazilian Butt Lift) Liposuction," as well as multiple tests.
The balance was paid with a Mastercard funded out of the Bank of America account opened in Georgia.
In addition to the procedure, the documents allege the funds were used for plane tickets, cash withdrawals, hotel room payments and luxury shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Wolford stores in Bal Harbour, Florida.
Exactly how Stibbins-Parker allegedly got ahold of the check is not clear. Weston's assistant city manager is cited in the documents saying the check never arrived at city hall, which was closed at the time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Any mail delivered to the building would have been placed in a collection box outside, the official said.
Stibbins-Parker pleaded not guilty to the charges and has requested a jury trial. The attorney who entered a not guilty plea for her in court, Michael White, declined to comment.
Detective Christopher Bradley of the Broward County Sheriff's Office worked with Postal Inspector Anthony Lawing of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on the case.
