Volusia County deputies took Salomes Jackson, known as Betty Idol, into custody on Aug. 13 after a nearly one-year investigation tied her to a real estate scam and money laundering case that investigators say moved nearly $200,000. The arrest brought a long-running probe into the open and put a familiar name back at the center of a fraud case built on stolen identities and bank accounts.
Jackson, 40, was the person readers were searching for because investigators said she received $178,786.65 and had direct control over the accounts used to receive, transfer, withdraw and launder the money. Authorities said the scheme ran through a coordinated network of bank accounts and a shell company, though they did not identify the company or the other alleged associates involved.
The case started to come together months earlier, when two victims contacted investigators on Sept. 8, 2025, about a fraudulent real estate listing and nearly $200,000 missing. The couple said they owned a mobile park in Orange City and were trying to buy a parcel next to their property on North Thorpe Avenue in Orange City when they were defrauded out of $196,786.65 on July 11, 2025. They made a $2,000 deposit first, then wired the remaining $196,786.65.
That detail matters because the victims believed they were dealing with legitimate professionals. After they asked for a survey of the property, they were told the realtor was out of the office and to stop calling. The escrow company later told them it does not conduct closing services and that the officer they worked with was not employed by the company. Investigators also said the copy of the property owner’s driver’s license in the paperwork was fake, and the Volusia Sheriff's Office said it appeared to have been generated using artificial intelligence and was not tied to any real person.
The unanswered question now is how wide the network ran beyond Jackson. Investigators said the property involved was never owned by Jackson or the people working with her, and the case only became public after the arrest on Aug. 13. For the victims in Orange City, the damage was already done; for investigators, the next step is whether the account trail leads to anyone else who helped move the money.
