Former Miami Gardens police officer pleads guilty to $63K COVID relief loan fraud
Key Points(5)
- A former Miami Gardens police officer has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining nearly $64,000 through a federal COVID-19 relief program by falsely claiming revenue for a company he managed.
- Alvin Bernard, 38, of Miami Gardens, pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the U.S.
- Small Business Administration (SBA), according to the U.S.
- Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
- Court records show that Bernard was employed as an officer with the Miami Gardens Police Department while serving as the sole manager and authorized representative of Vanity Properties LLC.
A former Miami Gardens police officer has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining nearly $64,000 through a federal COVID-19 relief program by falsely claiming revenue for a company he managed.
Alvin Bernard, 38, of Miami Gardens, pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Court records show that Bernard was employed as an officer with the Miami Gardens Police Department while serving as the sole manager and authorized representative of Vanity Properties LLC.
Prosecutors said Bernard submitted an online application on behalf of the company for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, or EIDL, a federal program that provided financial assistance to qualifying businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the application, Bernard falsely certified that Vanity Properties generated $127,881 in gross revenue during the 12-month period preceding Jan. 31, 2020, according to prosecutors.
The company had not earned those revenues, authorities said.
Based on the information provided in the application, the SBA approved a $63,900 loan, which was transferred electronically into Vanity Properties’ bank account.
“Alvin Bernard was a police officer sworn to uphold the law, yet he lied to obtain federal relief funds intended for businesses harmed by the pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said.
“His guilty plea holds him accountable for abusing the public trust and stealing from a program funded by American taxpayers.”
Bernard faces a maximum sentence of two years in federal prison.
As part of his plea agreement, he also agreed to resign from the Miami Gardens Police Department, surrender his Florida law enforcement certification and permanently refrain from seeking recertification.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Miami Field Office, the SBA Office of Inspector General’s Eastern Region and the U.S. Secret Service’s Miami Field Office.
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