A former housing director at Citrus Health Network is facing felony charges after Miami-Dade prosecutors say he siphoned more than $1.2 million from the county’s Homeless Trust through a pair of fraudulent schemes, then spent the money on designer clothes, artwork and multiple vehicles. Thomas Jardon, 42, was booked into jail and held on a bond of just under $700,000.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Jardon faces charges including organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft and engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity, according to NBC 6 South Florida. Jardon served as director of housing for Citrus Health Network, a nonprofit community mental health center founded in 1979 by Mario Jardon that now serves tens of thousands of patients annually. Citrus Health works with the Homeless Trust to find housing for community members referred to it by the county, and the Trust reimburses the nonprofit for those housing-related services.
Amazon Purchase Unraveled the Scheme
The case broke open after Citrus Health employees complained last year that Jardon was derelict in his duties and not responding to emails, prompting an internal audit. A Citrus Health senior accountant discovered a purchase of more than $30,000 in Apple products made using the organization’s Amazon account, according to a warrant cited by NBC 6. When executives asked Jardon to produce the Apple products, the ensuing scrutiny led to his firing in December 2025 and to Citrus Health reporting the discovered thefts to authorities.
Fernandez Rundle said Jardon operated two separate schemes that together defrauded the Homeless Trust of more than $1.2 million. In the first, he allegedly located properties for a rental reimbursement scheme, creating bogus companies that claimed to own or represent the properties while hiding his own ownership through multiple shell companies. He allegedly created fake leases and moved money through multiple accounts as Citrus Health sought reimbursement from the Homeless Trust for the fake rentals.
A Second Scheme Involving Fake Furniture Sales
In the second alleged scheme, Jardon created a fake company purportedly selling furniture, generated invoices and authorized payments for furniture sales that never happened, while Citrus Health sought reimbursement from the Homeless Trust for those purchases. Prosecutors say that scheme alone netted Jardon just under $600,000. Providing furniture to community members transitioning into housing is a service Citrus Health normally offers as part of its work with the Trust…