SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Tyler Anderson was the first inmate to appear before a Seminole County judge Friday afternoon, and one of the first things out of the judge’s mouth made the other inmates in the room visibly freeze.
“Your bond is set at $500,000 per count,” the judge stated.
At more than $1.5 million total, Anderson’s bond ranked among the highest in Central Florida’s recent history.
Seminole County deputies arrested Anderson Thursday on four charges out of Charlotte County, in the Ft. Myers area.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office, in a press release late Friday, said Anderson stole a total of $300,000 from churches, small businesses and a funeral home over an 18-month period by promising loans and mortgages to people through a nonexistent network of lenders.
They said he spent the money on vehicle leases, luxury items and personal services, without going into detail.
Jermaine Andrews said he was one of the victims. He connected with Anderson in 2023 while he was trying to build a new home for his church. Anderson said he could loan him the money – and then added he owned a construction materials business that specialized in steel.
“According to him, a church in our area had started a project and decided to go in a different direction,” Andrews recalled Anderson telling him. “So the actual materials were in a storage facility… so we are able to acquire that at a heavily discounted rate.”
Andrews said he wired Anderson $34,000 – and didn’t hear from the man again.
He took to Facebook live to air his story in mid-2023 and said other churches throughout the country messaged him letting him know they were victims too.
“What you cannot do is you cannot take advantage of people, make promises, take their money, and then don’t expect to have any consequences,” he said.
His church never build a new facility.
His complaint to state investigators listed concerns Anderson was using the money to prop up his family’s funeral home, the Ganderson Brothers Mortuary, which moved to Lake Mary around that time.
A man who identified himself as the owner, and who WFTV later confirmed to be Anderson’s younger brother Kelly Gaines Jr, denied that any money from Anderson’s outside dealings was mixed into the business.
“We’re not taking any questions as of right now,” Gaines said.
Anderson is being prosecuted by the Florida Attorney General’s office and facing multiple first-degree felonies that could land him 30 years in prison if convicted.
He also faces renewed legal problems in Tallahassee, where he initially pleaded no contest to insurance fraud charges in 2014.
Prosecutors in that case said he made nearly $70,000 for writing dozens of policies that contained false information – including one policy about Gaines Jr.
They revoked his seven years of probation in 2023 when it was discovered that Anderson was acting as a funeral director despite not holding a license.
“Those who defraud others undermine trust in our communities,” Attorney General James Uthmeier said. “This defendant defrauded houses of worship and small businesses out of more than $300,000 and spent the money on himself. Now, he will face our Statewide Prosecutors in court.”
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
