OIG News Release — City of Miami Police Officer Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Relief Fraud (May 21, 2025)

Summary

This is an Office of Inspector General news release, published on May 21, 2025, that links to the original Department of Justice press release. It states that Tramaine Liptrot, 43, a City of Miami Police Department officer who has been relieved of duty, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with fraudulent applications for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $200,000. The release says the applications were made in the name of Liptrots Tax Services L.L.C, on June 22, 2020 for about $91,750 in proceeds and on March 3, 2021 for about $108,422 in proceeds. Liptrot is scheduled for sentencing on August 6, 2025, and faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

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OIG news release

City of Miami Police Officer Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Relief Fraud

Published on May 21, 2025 by Office of Inspector General

Click Here to View the Original U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Press Release

Yesterday, Tramaine Liptrot, 43, a police officer with the City of Miami Police Department (MPD) who has been relieved of duty, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with fraudulent applications for two Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans totaling over $200,000. Liptrot entered his guilty plea in Miami before U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom.

According to the facts admitted at the change of plea hearing, Liptrot, along with being an MPD Police Officer, was the owner and President of Liptrots Tax Services L.L.C (Liptrots Tax). With the assistance of an associate, Liptrot fraudulently obtained two PPP loans in the name of Liptrots Tax.

On June 22, 2020, working with the associate, Liptrot caused the submission of a false and fraudulent PPP loan application on behalf of Liptrots Tax, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax had an average monthly payroll of $36,700 for four employees, and a fraudulent IRS Form 944 in support thereof, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax paid its employees $440,397 during 2019. As a result of this fraudulent PPP application, Liptrots Tax obtained approximately $91,750 in PPP loan proceeds from an SBA approved PPP lender.

On March 3, 2021, again working with the associate, Liptrot caused the submission of a false and fraudulent second-draw PPP loan application on behalf of Liptrots Tax, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax had an average monthly payroll of $43,369, and including as part of the application process, a fraudulent IRS Form 944, falsely claiming that Liptrots Tax paid $496,428 in wages and other compensation in 2020. As a result of this fraudulent second-draw PPP application, Liptrots Tax obtained approximately $108,422 in PPP loan proceeds from a different SBA approved PPP lender.

Liptrot is scheduled for sentencing on August 6, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., where he faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida, acting Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of FBI Miami and Special Agent in Charge Amaleka McCall-Brathwaite, U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General (SBA-OIG), Eastern Region, announced the guilty plea.

FBI Miami’s Area Corruption Task Force, which includes task force officers from the City of Miami Police Department’s Internal Affairs Section, and SBA-OIG investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward N. Stamm is prosecuting the case and Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabrielle Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.

In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted. It was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other sources of relief, the CARES Act authorized and provided funding to the SBA to provide Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) to eligible small businesses, including sole proprietorships and independent contractors, experiencing substantial financial disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic to allow them to meet financial obligations and operating expenses that could otherwise have been met had the disaster not occurred. EIDL applications were submitted directly to the SBA via the SBA’s on-line application website, and the applications were processed and the loans funded for qualifying applicants directly by the SBA.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus .

On September 15, 2022, the Attorney General selected the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office to head one of three national COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force Teams. The Department of Justice established the Strike Force to enhance existing efforts to combat and prevent COVID-19 related financial fraud. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please click here .

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form .

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov , under case number 23-cr-20155.

Related programs: Pandemic Oversight, PPP

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