By Ed Offley
When Bay County Corporal Alvin P. Iler showed up at his door on January 3, Aaron Scott Lee did his best to explain how he had mistakenly spent at least $107,000 on his company credit card for unauthorized personal charges.
Lee’s explanations failed to persuade.
The day before, Panama City Beach Convention & Tourist Bureau CEO Dan Rowe had contacted the sheriff’s office to report that he had found “numerous discrepancies” on Lee’s corporate American Express Platinum Card.
In his Complaint Affidavit, Iler recounted Rowe’s discovery: “Between the dates of April 2024 and January 1st, 2026, Aaron Lee made $957,051.65 worth of transactions …. Of the transactions made, only $58,000 are logged through their Expensify account,” referring to the online expense management program.
Among the unauthorized credit card charges were five totalling $107,537.60:
* Installation of a Culligan water filtration system at his home on February 24, 2025, for $11,764;
* My Horse Connection (animal hospital) on May 25, 2025, for $20,442;
* NYC Watch & Silver Company on August 4, 2025, for $10,815;
* Explora 1 Geneva, August 17, 2025, for $17,321.63;
* Explora 1 Geneva, August 18, 2025, for $47,194.97.
Iler’s affidavit explained that the latter two charges comprised the purchase of five luxury wristwatches (including Rolex and Cartier) during an international cruise on the cruise yacht Explora 1 Geneva.
“There were other numerous transactions to various Airline companies, Venmo payments, expensive hotels and restaurants, as well as other expenses that were made on the American Express Card,” the affidavit added.
After Iler read Lee his Miranda rights, Lee told Iler that he had attached his corporate credit card to his Apple Pay wallet on his cell phone, and that all of the transactions on his business card were “an accident.” Iler added that Lee explained that there was “an accountant in Atlanta, Georgia who pays all of his bills, therefore he does not see any of his [credit card] statements.”
“Furthermore, despite being in control of paying for the [CVB’s] American Express Bill, Lee alleged he can see all other employees’ transactions but cannot see his own transactions,” the affidavit continued.
On January 3, Bay County Sergeant Nicole McGowin interviewed Lee’s wife, who had stopped living with him two months earlier. The wife – not identified in the affidavit – confirmed that she had observed her husband load his corporate credit card number on several online payment apps including Apple Pay and Venmo. She added Lee told her “the charges were approved by his employer as they wished for the charges to be conducted so the [bonus] points would be gained on the card.”
“The defendant’s wife advised she began to question the charges the defendant was making and the ‘luxury lifestyle’ the defendant was living due to the spending not matching the income he was bringing in,” McGowin reported.
With his wife confirming much of the allegations against him, Iler returned to Lee’s residence later that day and confronted him about “discrepancies in his story.”
“Lee did admit to knowingly purchasing the Culligan water system in his residence with the business card issued to him,” Iler wrote. “Lee admitted to making other purchases as well, to include physically swiping the card versus utilizing the [Apple Pay] tap to pay through his phone.” He also said he intended to repay the charges but had failed to do so, Iler added.
At that point, the cuffs came out.
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