South Florida woman sentenced after defrauding husband’s cystic fibrosis nonprofit

A South Florida woman will spend more than a year behind bars for cheating her husband’s cystic fibrosis nonprofit — best known for its annual paddle challenge from the Bahamas to the Sunshine State — out of thousands of dollars to maintain her lavish lifestyle, according to investigators.

Elizabeth Genna Suarez, a former board member of Piper’s Angels Foundation, has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release.

At the time the crimes were committed, the 34-year-old woman, formerly known as Elizabeth Mirson Suit, was married to Travis Suit, the organization’s founder and executive director. The foundation, named after Travis Suit’s daughter, maintains Suarez acted alone, and he was neither arrested nor charged in connection to the fraud.

Suarez’s attorney, Gregg Lerman, declined to comment Thursday afternoon.

From August 2018 to November 2019, the Palm Beach County woman used the foundation’s credit card to make an $8,000 deposit for cosmetic surgery, pay $1,680 for a cosmetic laser procedure, and spend $800 on a necklace. She also used the organization’s funds to buy sunglasses and a $3,000 mattress, as well as pay for improvements to a vehicle. In total, Suarez misappropriated nearly $160,000, federal agents say.

Investigators say Suarez convinced Piper’s Angels to give her the company credit card and offered to do its bookkeeping, obtaining access to the nonprofit’s software. To hide the illegal purchases, she made falsified statements so the expenditures would look legitimate. She also gained access to Piper‘s Angels’ checks and debit card, which she later used to make additional illegal purchases, court records show.

“This was difficult, and we have absolutely encountered situations and circumstances where this caused us to lose supporters,” Piper’s Angels Board President Paul Smolchek told the Miami Herald in an email Wednesday night. “We understand that, we respect it, and we will always lean into it with everything we have to correct it and hopefully someday we can welcome those individuals back.”

Smolchek said in a statement that the board ordered a private investigation immediately after Travis discovered his wife’s unauthorized transactions, and in March 2020 the organization made a referral to law enforcement after Suarez paid back the money she stole. She was also banned from having any involvement with the organization. In early 2020, Travis and Suarez’s divorce was finalized, Smolchek told the Miami Herald.

“We identified and acknowledged what happened, we took immediate steps to rectify it, and through the support of our community we have not only weathered the storm but have come out much stronger for it,” Smolchek said.

Following the investigation, Piper’s Angels created a financial committee to oversee budgeting and expenses, and instituted a dual authorization requirement from two members of the committee for any expense over a certain dollar amount, Smolchek noted.

Suarez was charged on Nov. 30, and a jury found her guilty of three out of four counts of wire fraud on Feb. 1. A trial judge later ruled that she also lied on the stand and submitted fake character letters to the court.

She was sentenced on March 6, and must surrender herself to begin her prison sentence before 2 p.m. Dec. 1.

What to know about Piper’s Angels

Background: The Piper’s Angels Foundation has been in the news in the past, but for a good reason. It was founded in 2016 after Travis Suit’s daughter, Piper, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of four, according to the nonprofit’s website.

Illness: This genetic condition alters a protein in the body, affecting the body’s cells, tissues, and the glands that make mucus and sweat, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says. As a result, thick, sticky mucus builds up and leads to blockages, damage or infections in the affected organs, and causes inflammation in the lungs and pancreas.

Paddle challenge: In 2013, Suit and three friends started an 80-mile paddle challenge from Bimini, Bahamas, to Florida’s east coast to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Palm Beach chapter. The event was formalized in 2017 as Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis. Since then, Piper’s Angels has raised just north of $2.5 million to provide urgent financial assistance and scholarships to people who have cystic fibrosis and their families, according to Smolchek.

Rating: Charity Navigator, a foundation that rates charities, appraises Piper’s Angels transparency as “Platinum,” its highest level of recognition. The nonprofit also continues to hold its tax-exempt status since 2017, the IRS’ website shows.

Student: Piper, now a 15-year-old high-schooler and cheerleader, will be paddling in this year’s Crossing for Cystic Fibrosis as part of a four-person relay team, Smolchek said.

Reaction: “While we have always had to section off a measure of time and resource to continue walking through this long process, the rest of our team and organization has continued moving forward without looking back,” Smolchek said. “We have a responsibility to the community and to our CF (cystic fibrosis) families and we would have served no one to have allowed this to stop the work we were doing.”