Former Fort Lauderdale chamber director arrested in $11,000 theft case

Wilton Manors police arrested former Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce director Jason Nunez, 43, on a grand theft charge after investigators said he spent up to $11,000 in chamber money on personal expenses.

Police said the spending ran from October 2025 through January 2026 and included Uber rides, gas, haircuts and cash withdrawals on the organization’s business credit card. A police report said Nunez used the card daily and sometimes multiple times a day in December, a pattern investigators said pointed to repeated misuse rather than a one-time mistake.

Nunez resigned from the post in January after the spending pattern was identified, police said. He bonded out of jail Tuesday.

The case lands hard for a chamber that positions itself as a central business voice in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County. The Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce says its mission is to promote economic opportunity, equality and inclusive tourism for LGBT and allied businesses. It also describes itself as the exclusive affiliate chamber for Greater Fort Lauderdale of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and the largest LGBT business organization in Broward County.

That makes the alleged theft more than an internal personnel matter. Chambers depend on member dues, donor support and public confidence to represent businesses, connect entrepreneurs and promote tourism. A grand theft case tied to a business credit card raises immediate questions about controls, oversight and who was watching spending as the organization handled funds meant for its mission.

The chamber’s current team page no longer lists Nunez and instead names Chairman of the Board Lenny Brooks, Treasurer Raymond Seah, Membership Chair James Mack, Events Chair Wayne Jarvis and Director of Membership Stephen Cascaes. The shift underscores how quickly the organization has had to move to separate its current leadership from the former director now facing criminal charges.

Nunez was a familiar figure in South Florida LGBTQ+ business circles before the arrest. A 2025 profile identified him as president and chief executive officer of the chamber, and a February 2026 report said the organization cut the CEO role amid funding strain.

For Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors, where the chamber has long sat at the intersection of business advocacy, tourism and LGBTQ+ civic life, the case is likely to sharpen scrutiny of financial controls inside small nonprofits that rely on trust as much as cash. The Broward County Clerk of Courts provides a public case-search portal for court records, and Wilton Manors police have a public records request process for local documents tied to the investigation.