Greater Naples Fire District denies it misused CARES Act money

A lawsuit alleges the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District misused CARES Act money and that a whistleblower lost his job for reporting the misuse of funds.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of former employee Kevin Nelmes, former division chief at the fire district.

The lawsuit states Nelmes warned his deputy chief of the misuse and was fired about a week later.

The Greater Naples fire Chief J. Nolan Sapp declined to comment, but in a Facebook post, the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District denied the allegations.

The lawsuit does not address how the funds were spent.

The fire district said it would defend itself in a court of law and asked the public not to be swayed by media coverage on the lawsuit.

“It is also important to note that the District’s financial statements for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020, were audited by an independent accounting firm and there were no deficiencies or instances of noncompliance found or reported in relations to the CARES Act funds the District received,” the fire department said.

But, according to documents obtained by WINK News through a public records request, the fire department used $1 million to support staff during the pandemic and another  $146,770 for personal protection equipment.

Collier County Commissioner Penny Talor declined to talk about specifics in the lawsuit, but she said every expense was audited by the clerk.

“We were warned again and again, there were four audits first to get to leave our coffers, then to be paid by the clerk, then the state then the federal. So that’s that’s where we are with everything,” Taylor said.

Nelmes’ attorney Ben Yormak did not respond to a request for comment from WINK News regarding the documents obtained.