<body><div>MIAMI – On Oct. 23, a federal jury in Miami convicted Tracy Wade, 51 and Carolyn Wade, 49, both former deputy sheriffs with the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make false statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA), and making false statements to the SBA, all in connection with obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans based on false information.According to evidence presented at trial, in 2021, Tracy and Carolyn Wade applied for and received PPP loans for phony sole proprietor businesses using falsified Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms submitted with each application. The Wades also applied for and received forgiveness of their fraudulently obtained PPP loans based upon additional falsehoods, which included falsely representing to the SBA that they had spent their loan proceeds on payroll. During the commission of the offenses, Tracy and Carolyn Wade were employed as deputy sheriffs in BSO’s Department of Detention.A sentencing date has not yet been set by the court. The maximum sentence for conspiracy to commit wire fraud is 20 years in prison; the maximum sentence for each wire fraud conviction is 20 years in prison; the maximum sentence for conspiracy to make false statements to the SBA is 5 years in prison; the maximum sentence for each conviction of making false statements to the SBA is 2 years in prison. The court will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe; Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri, FBI, Miami Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Brian Tucker, Eastern Region, Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (FRB-OIG); and BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony made the announcement.FBI Miami, FRB-OIG, and BSO investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David A. Snider and Adam Love prosecuted the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren Grove is handling asset forfeiture.On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.On Sept. 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud. The Strike Force combines law enforcement and prosecutorial resources and focuses on large-scale, multistate pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors, as well as those who committed multiple instances of pandemic relief fraud. The Strike Force uses prosecutor-led and data analyst-driven teams to identify and bring to justice those who stole pandemic relief funds. Additional information regarding the Strike Force may be found at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-covid-19-fraud-strike-force-teams.Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 23-cr-60173.###</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Federal Jury Convicts Two Former Broward Deputy Sheriffs of COVID-19 Relief Fraud

MIAMI – On Oct. 23, a federal jury in Miami convicted Tracy Wade, 51 and Carolyn Wade, 49, both former deputy sheriffs with the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to make false statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA), and making false statements to the SBA, all in connection with obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans based on false information.