NYPD, Correction Officers Charged For Pandemic Relief Fraud

Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that seven NYPD employees are among the 17 New York City municipal workers accused of COVID-19 relief schemes defrauding the government of more than $1.5 million, Ben Feuerherd and Mark Lungarillo report for the New York Post. The city employees involved have been charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud for the fraudulent applications and face up to 20 years in prison. The schemes involved fraudulent filings under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program. 

“Of those arrested today are civil servants, NYPD employees, and a Captain for the Department of Corrections. These are individuals who held positions of trust and had strong, stable jobs while so many people struggled during the pandemic,” said IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Fattorusso in a Department of Justice statement. “The message that these arrests are sending should be a clear one: Nobody is above the law and while the pandemic has receded from the headlines, IRS-CI’s commitment to bringing those who defrauded these programs to justice remains unwavering.”