A disgraced ex-NYPD detective was slapped with four years behind bars Wednesday for his role in orchestrating an extensive COVID-era scheme, helping 65 clients secure fraudulent loans during the height of the pandemic.
John Bolden, of Valley Stream, was ordered to pay $303,138 in restitution and forfeit $112,002, in addition to his prison stint, for attempting to swindle nearly $3 million in federal governments loan through the COVID-era Paycheck Protection Program, investigators said.
“Despite being a police officer sworn to uphold the law, the defendant organized a scheme that enabled dozens of individuals, including clients, family members and NYPD co-workers, to obtain millions in federal funds using fictitious tax records,” US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said in a statement.
“Bolden brazenly took advantage of a COVID relief program created to help struggling businesses survive an unprecedented national crisis.”
Between May 2020 and October 2022, Bolden, 47, leveraged his role as a partner in a tax-preparation business to file false IRS Schedule C documents for his clients in order to obtain PPP loans, according to court documents.
He coordinated with the franchise’s unnamed owner, identified as “co-conspirator “ in the criminal complaint, who designed the blueprint for the fraud, court papers said.
The owner provided the exact formula based on the desired client payout: take their desired loan amount, divide it by 2.5 and then multiply that figure by 12.
Bolden’s co-conspirators — Jacqueline Johnson, his mother, and Christian McKenzie, his cousin — acted as the middlemen between the clients and Bolden, referring dozens of clients to the business in exchange for kickback payments — often ranging from $3,000 to $4,000 per client, according to court papers.
Fellow NYPD detective, Anthony Carreira, also fraudulently obtained loans for himself and his spouse, paying Bolden kickbacks from the proceeds, prosecutors said.
The owner took his portion of the kickbacks in cash to hide the paper trail.
In May 2020, Bolden received an email from the franchise owner tax with an attached audio recording advising him to keep the PPP loans below $20,000 because “we all want the bread, but we also want the loan forgiveness,” according to court documents.
“That’s the big win,” the owner said.
Bolden pleaded guilty in February.
The Eastern District of New York did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
