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A couple working as Broward trustees found guilty of defrauding pandemic loan program

Harry October 26, 2024

In May, a former Broward sheriff’s deputy tried his hand at going to trial on charges of stealing thousands of dollars from a U.S. government loan program aimed at keeping businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carolyn Denise Wade, 49, got lucky when a Miami federal jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict that she had earned nearly $21,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program, leading to a mistrial.

Wade got lucky last week.

A new panel of Miami jurors found her guilty of wire fraud conspiracy and related charges — but this time, her husband, Tracy D. Wade, 51, a former BSO deputy, was tried alongside her and convicted of the same PPP loan crimes. for the second time.

The Wades, who worked in the agency’s probation department, are among nearly 20 former BSO deputies and corrections officers who were convicted at trial or pleaded guilty to PPP loan fraud, the most violent crime of the pandemic era. Their arrest and conviction last year brought an end to one of BSO’s worst scandals.

According to trial evidence, the Wades were working as custodial assistants in 2021 when they pretended to be sole business owners and conspired with a Broward loan originator to submit two fabricated PPP applications worth about $21,000 each.

The Wades not only submitted false IRS income tax forms to support their fraudulent applications. The couple lied about using government funds for payroll so that the Small Business Administration would forgive their loans after receiving the income, according to prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Florida.

But prosecutors said the couple actually spent their SBA loans on themselves.

Working with financial institutions across the country, the SBA was responsible for the nearly $900 million PPP loan program approved by Congress under the CARES Act in 2020. Agency guaranteed all PPP loans and forgave the vast majority Once they are confirmed to be used for legitimate business expenses according to SBA records.

At their trial, which ended Wednesday, the Wades were found guilty of conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements to the SBA. They face prison time, but their sentences will likely be modest since the theft of government funds amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

Before the couple’s trial, loan originator Haydee Rivero, who helped the couple and others submit fraudulent PPP applications, pleaded guilty last month to defrauding the government and making false statements to the SBA.

Other Broward surrogate cases

Wades’ case follows that of another Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy who served on the agency’s SWAT team. In August, 38-year-old Alexandra Acosta was sentenced to four months in prison after a Miami federal jury found her guilty of defrauding the SBA’s pandemic program of tens of thousands of dollars.

Alexandra Acosta, a 10-year BSO veteran, was also ordered to pay a $4,000 fine by U.S. District Judge Robert Scola.

Federal prosecutor Trevor Jones described Acosta as a police officer with a “good career” who cared about his family, but also said he deserved to be punished for stealing from the benefits program and betraying the public trust.

“Acosta lied on numerous occasions before, during, and after his crime, including during the time he was sworn in at trial,” Jones wrote in a sentencing memorandum recommending that he be sentenced to 10 months in prison.

But defense attorney Brian Silber spent less time arguing that Acosta’s academic and athletic scholarships in college led him down the path of law enforcement and community service. He described him as “a very brave MP who took great personal risk to save others”.

Acosta, of Tamarac, was convicted in 2021 of using a real estate company with the help of a tax preparer to obtain a $20,180 loan from the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Prosecutors said he falsified income, tax and other records to qualify for the loan.

Acosta’s co-defendant is tax preparer Vilsaint St. Louis pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy in May. On the recommendation of his defense attorney and federal prosecutors, Scola sentenced him to one year of probation in addition to 100 hours of community service.

The only other BSO employee convicted of PPP loan fraud and sent to prison: Stephanie D. Smith. The former BSO assistant school resource officer was found guilty of wire fraud charges in March for submitting fraudulent loan applications for two companies through the pandemic program. He collected tens of thousands of dollars that he spent on himself.

In May, U.S. District Judge James Cohn sentenced the 28-year BSO veteran to seven months in prison and ordered him to surrender to prison and pay back $31,108 to the federal government. Cohn also imposed a $2,000 fine.

Problem arises in an institution

While Smith and Acosta faced trials in Miami, many of their colleagues at BSO pleaded guilty to stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the federally funded loan program. The total amount of loan money lost — about $500,000 — was relatively modest compared to dozens of other cases of COVID-19 benefit fraud in South Florida. But the number of law enforcement officers within a police department accused of violating the law is shocking, officials said.

Among them: Former BSO Lt. Ernest Bernard Gonder Jr. He admitted in Miami federal court to receiving more than $167,000 from the Paycheck Protection Program; That was far more than other BSO employees arrested in October on charges of stealing tens of thousands of dollars. each from the same program.

PortSt. Gonder, who lives in St. Lucie, filed a PPP loan application on behalf of EBG Properties LLC in 2021 that contained fabricated information about the company’s monthly payroll, number of employees and taxes, according to charges filed by prosecutor Marc Anton. .

Gonder, who previously worked for more than 20 years in the BSO Detention Department, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud in March. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams sentenced Gonder to five years of probation along with one year of house arrest. He was also ordered to pay the government debt.

Gonder’s brother, Kamalis Brevard Gonder, who also worked as a deputy BSO in the probation department, pleaded guilty in June to a wire fraud charge stemming from a $20,833 loan he received in 2021 through the Paycheck Protection Program.

In August, U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal sentenced Gonder to two years of probation and ordered him to repay the money to the government.

BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony explains his crimes “Theft from the American people.”