Former Florida police officer sentenced for COVID-19 relief fraud

FLORIDA – A former Florida police officer has been ordered to pay restitution for COVID-19 relief fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has announced.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO), Jason Scott Carter, 45, a former Coral Springs, Fla., police officer, must serve five years of probation and pay restitution following a federal conviction for fraudulently applying to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for a COVID-19 relief advance grant and low-interest loan.

According to court records, Carter submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) application and loan agreement on behalf of Jason S. Carter Inc., a South Florida business he allegedly owned and operated. That application reportedly falsely certified that during the 12 months prior to January 31, 2020, the business had gross revenues of $100,000.

In reality, the business had only minimal gross revenues, the USAO said.

According to the USAO, Carter also falsely certified in his SBA application that he would use the funds for business expenses to alleviate pandemic-related economic injury. Instead, Carter allegedly spent more than $21,000 of the SBA loan obtaining high-end repairs on his 1969 Ford Mustang.

Carter pled guilty to one count of wire fraud on October 12, 2022. In addition to his probation, he must serve six months of home confinement, pay a $5,000 fine, and pay restitution in the amount of $30,000, the USAO said.

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Special Agent in Charge Omar Perez Aybar, Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Miami Regional Office; and Special Agent in Charge David Walker, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Tampa, Fla., Field Office, made the announcement.

HHS-OIG Miami, Tampa Field Office, and FBI Tampa investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Will J. Rosenzweig prosecuted it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Laserna is handling asset forfeiture.

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 on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case no. 22-CR-80094.