The Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau's Vice President of Administration, Aaron Lee, has been arrested on charges of grand theft. The Bay County Sheriff's Office made the arrest on January 3rd, following an investigation into the alleged misuse of CVB-issued credit cards. The investigation revealed a significant discrepancy between the American Express credit card statement and the business's expense logs, with Lee charging nearly $1 million in transactions over a two-year period. The charges included expensive hotels, restaurants, Venmo payments, and airline costs, with over 1,000 transactions taking place between April 2024 and January 2026. Five of these charges, totaling over $100,000, were deemed personal and included a home water filtration system, payments to international cruise companies, and a horse auction business. The Tourist Development Council President and CEO, Dan Rowe, suspected that Lee may have been deleting transactions from the CVB Expensify account to cover up the misuse. During a post-Miranda interview, Lee admitted to using the card for personal expenses, including the water filtration system, and claimed he intended to pay back the money but failed to do so. The search warrant conducted on Lee's residence resulted in the discovery of several high-end watches, including Rolex and Cartier brands, further supporting the charges of grand theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.
