Former Miami-Dade police officer pleads responsible to over $285,000 in COVID-19 mortgage fraud

A former officer with the Miami-Dade Police Department pleaded responsible Monday to wire fraud related to his software as an employer for a Paycheck Protection Program mortgage throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Samuel Harris, 43, acquired over $285,000 in authorities COVID-19 associated loans primarily based on what prosecutors stated had been fraudulent purposes.

Harris was a full-time police officer on the time he claimed to personal and run Oregen Digital, Inc., which Harris included in 2015. Harris filed for Oregen’s reinstatement on June 15, 2020.

On June 29, 2020, Harris and an unnamed affiliate submitted a PPP software for a mortgage, falsely claiming that Oregen had 10 staff and a payroll of over $50,000 month-to-month. 

Harris additionally submitted a fraudulent IRS type representing that Oregen had paid its 10 staff over $602,000 in 2019. As a end result, Harris acquired a PPP mortgage for $125,579 from a Georgia-based Small Business Administration-approved lender.

On June 30, 2020, the federal government stated, Harris additionally submitted falsified paperwork for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, claiming that within the 12 months previous to Jan. 31, 2020, Oregen had made gross income of over $859,000. 

As a end result, Harris and Oregen acquired an EIDL advance of $10,000 that didn’t should be repaid in addition to $149,900 in EIDL loans.