Tuscaloosa Woman Pleads Guilty To Participating In International Fraud Scheme

VOLUSIA COUNTY, FL — A Tuscaloosa woman was one of three people arrested in Volusia County, Florida and charged with international fraud following the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars wired from a Florida title company to accounts across the United States and outside of the country.

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that Adrienne Hyche, 33, was arrested in Tuscaloosa on a warrant charging her with grand theft over $20,000 and was then extradited to Volusia County in May.

Investigators said Hyche has already pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to probation, in addition to having to pay $30,000 in restitution.

The arrest of the three suspects also resulted in the first-ever cryptocurrency seizure by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Bernadette Poorman, 61, was charged with grand theft of over $100,000 after her employer — Express Title Services in Ormond Beach, Florida — reported that she allowed close to $600,000 to be fraudulently wired from the company’s operating escrow account. She also reportedly wired another $350,000 to her own bank account.

Along with Poorman and Hyche, 60-year-old Richard Pira of San Francisco was also extradited to Volusia County this week and remains in custody with his bond set at $10 million.

Investigators claim Pira is one of the leaders of the organized fraud ring and estimated that he received $365,000 of the stolen funds.

The case was reported to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office in March, which prompted a four-month investigation that resulted in detectives obtaining seven search warrants to be executed at various financial institutions.

As a result of the search warrants, authorities seized $126,421 from those accounts, in addition to about 11 Bitcoin valued at approximately $260,000 at the time was seized from an individual in India.

Investigators said an arrest warrant has been issued for a fourth suspect in the case whose name is not being released at this time.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com