A detective with the Ocala Police Department was recently recognized with the Vance Ferguson Award of Merit.
According to OPD, Detective Rowe received the award in recognition of his investigative skill. The award, which is named in honor of former OPD deputy chief W. Vance Ferguson, recognizes those who reached a significant investigative achievement.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two annual award ceremonies were postponed which led to a delay in presenting the award to Rowe. Last month, OPD held its annual awards ceremony, but Rowe was unable to attend the event. The award was later presented to him by OPD Major Martin.
Since 1998, only seven awards had been handed out, and Rowe became the eighth recipient of the honor.
On October 17, 2019, more than $742,000 was obtained from the City of Ocala by fraudulent means. A lengthy investigation was conducted which spanned months and involved numerous subpoenas and other communications with banks and phone companies. Two suspects were identified during the investigation and Rowe obtained warrants for their arrest.
The suspects resided in Texas, and they were arrested and later convicted for their roles in the fraud. The City of Ocala managed to recover just over $717,000 of the stolen money, which is a 97% recovery.
Around the same time as the above incident, Rowe investigated another fraud case that involved the loss of $246,000, and a suspect was identified and arrested.
On its Facebook webpage, OPD commended Rowe for his dedication to investigating financial crimes, which are often complex and lengthy. Those investigations have led to arrests and successful prosecution.