NYPD detective from Valley Stream arrested for pandemic-era loan scheme

A New York City Police Department detective from Valley Stream and three others were arrested in connection to a wire fraud scheme that lined their pockets, and more than 65 others, with fraudulent Covid-19 relief loans earlier this year.

Alongside scores of others, John Bolden, 46, allegedly obtained Paycheck Protection Program funds for himself, fellow detective Anthony Carreira, his cousin Christian McKenzie, and his mother Jacqueline Johnson.

The PPP funds, a pandemic-era relief program, offered low-interest loans to small businesses in an effort to keep them from going under or firing their employees en masse.

From May to October of 2020, Bolden and Carreira, who owned partnership interests in a franchise location for a tax preparation business, submitted online loan applications rife with “materially false and fraudulent information,” according to prosecutors. Bogus IRS documents filed alongside these applications were filled with fake details about gross income, net income, and places of employment.

Bolden was released on $25,000 bail at his arraignment in federal court in Brooklyn before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois Bloom. If found guilty, he faces up to 30 years in prison. He is due back in court on Oct. 22.

“As alleged, the defendants, including members of law enforcement responsible for upholding the law, defrauded the United States government out of relief funds meant for businesses struggling to survive the pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “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.”