FLORIDA – A former police officer has pleaded guilty to COVID-19 relief fraud that reportedly took place while the City of Miami Police Department still employed him.
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Gregory Dennis, 45, has pled guilty to wire fraud in connection with two fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans he submitted to a Small Business Administration (SBA) approved PPP lender.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO), on March 28, 2021, Dennis submitted a false and fraudulent PPP loan application claiming to be a sole proprietor operating a cleaning service. The USAO said the PPP loan application falsely represented his business’ 2020 gross income. In support of the application, Dennis reportedly submitted a false and fraudulent IRS Form 1040, including a Schedule C, for the tax year 2020.
“As a result of the false and fraudulent application, Dennis obtained a $20,833 PPP loan from a California-based SBA-approved PPP lender,” said the USAO.
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On April 10, 2021, Dennis is said to have submitted a second false and fraudulent PPP loan application seeking a second draw PPP loan. Once again, Dennis reportedly claimed to be a sole proprietor operating a cleaning service, and this second draw application also fraudulently represented his business’ 2020 gross income, the USAO said.
According to prosecutors, the second draw application also was supported by the same false and fraudulent 2020 IRS Form 1040 and Schedule C that was used to obtain the first PPP loan fraudulently. Again, the fraudulent application was approved successfully, and Dennis received an additional $20,833 in second draw PPP loan proceeds from the same California-based lender, the USAO said.
Dennis is scheduled for sentencing on June 13, at 1:15 p.m., before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale, where he faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
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U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), Investigations Division’s Eastern Region, announced the guilty plea.
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-60063.
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