Two NYPD detectives charged with COVID wire fraud

( NewsNation ) — A criminal complaint was unsealed Monday charging two New York City Police Department detectives and two others with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Detectives John Bolden and Anthony Carreira, along with Jacqueline Johnson and Christian McKenzie, were charged with engaging in a scheme to submit fraudulent applications for loans under the United States Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which Congress created as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ( CARES ) Act.

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace and Christie M. Curtis, acting assistant director at the FBI’s New York Field Office, announced the arrests in a statement . Peace said the defendants defrauded the U.S. government out of relief funds meant for struggling businesses.

“These arrests are a powerful reminder of this Office’s resolve to prosecute anyone who violated the public trust and took advantage of the COVID crisis by stealing from relief programs,” Peace said.

The court filings allege that between May 2020 and October 2022, Bolden attempted to defraud the SBA by working with his clients and co-defendants to fraudulently obtain PPP funds for himself, his co-defendants and over 65 individuals.

Bolden did this by helping submit online loan applications that contained materially false and fraudulent information.

Bolden also prepared fictitious Internal Revenue Service documentation to accompany loan applications. This documentation contained false information about his, his co-defendants’ and his clients’ places of employment, gross income and net income.

Bolden, Johnson and McKenzie were arrested and are scheduled to appear Monday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom. Carreira has agreed to surrender at a later date. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years.

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