Indictment — United States v. John Bolden et al., Eastern District of New York (Document 36)

Summary

An Indictment in United States of America v. John Bolden, Anthony Carreira and Christian McKenzie, Cr. No. 24-CR-361, Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG, Document 36, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, filed September 9, 2024. The grand jury alleges that between approximately May 2020 and October 2022 Bolden defrauded the SBA and financial institutions administering the PPP by submitting, or causing to be submitted, online loan applications containing materially false and fraudulent information, working with Carreira, McKenzie and Co-Conspirator #1. It alleges that Bolden and Carreira were NYPD detectives who operated tax preparation franchise locations and that McKenzie acted as an intermediary referring clients. Count One is headed Disaster Relief Fraud, citing 18 U.S.C. § 1040(a)(2), and Count Two is headed Wire Fraud.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

Text recognized from a scanned document; may contain errors.

Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document36 _ Filed 09/09/24 Page 1 of 9 PagelD #: 67

FILED
FTB:ADG/EWS IN CLERK’S OFFICE
F. #2022R00718 U.S. DISTRICT COURT E.D.N.Y.

* SEPTEMBER 9, 2024 *
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT BROOKLYN OFFICE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA INDICTMENT

- against - Cr. No. 24-CR-361

(T. 18, US.C., §§ 982(a)(2), 982(b)(1),
JOHN BOLDEN, 1040(a)(2), 1040(6)(1), 1343, 1349, 2. and
ANTHONY CARREIRA and 3551 et seq.; T. 21, U.S.C., § 853(p))
CHRISTIAN MCKENZIE,

Judge Ann M. Donnelly

Defendants. Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry
THE GRAND JURY CHARGES:
INTRODUCTION

At all times relevant to this Indictment, unless otherwise indicated:

The COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States

1. In or about December 2019, a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 (the
“coronavirus”), caused outbreaks of the coronavirus disease COVID-19 that spread globally. On
or about January 31, 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a national public
health emergency under 42 U.S.C. § 247d as a result of the spread of COVID-19 to and within
the United States. On or about March 11, 2020, the Director-General of the World Health
Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic. On or about March 13, 2020, the
President of the United States issued Proclamation 9994 declaring a national emergency
beginning on March 1, 2020, as a result of the rapid spread of COVID-19 within the United

States.
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document 36 _ Filed 09/09/24 Page 2 of 9 PagelD #: 68

The Paycheck Protection Program

2. On or about March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The CARES Act was a
federal law designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who
were suffering adverse economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of
relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans
to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses through a program referred to as
the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). In or around April 2020, Congress authorized over
$300 billion in additional PPP funding.

3. To obtain a PPP loan, qualifying businesses were required to submit a
PPP loan application, which was to be signed by an authorized representative of the business.
The PPP loan application required recipient businesses, through an authorized representative, to
acknowledge the program rules and make certain affirmative certifications to establish eligibility
for the PPP loan. For example, in the PPP loan application, recipient businesses, through an
authorized representative, were required to state, among other things, their average monthly
payroll expenses and number of employees. These figures were used to calculate the amount of
money the businesses were eligible to receive under the PPP. The recipient businesses were also
required to provide documentation supporting the information contained in the PPP loan
application.

4. PPP loan proceeds were required to be used by the recipient businesses
only for certain permissible expenses, to wit: payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and
utilities. The PPP allowed the interest and principal on a PPP loan to be entirely forgiven if the

recipient businesses spent the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated period of
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document 36 _ Filed 09/09/24 Page 3 of 9 PagelD #: 69

time after receiving the proceeds and used a certain percentage of the proceeds for payroll costs.
5. The PPP was overseen by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”),
which had authority over all PPP loans. Individual PPP loans, however, were issued and
approved by private lenders, who received and processed PPP loan applications and supporting
documentation and, following SBA approval, made loans using the lenders’ own funds.

Relevant Individuals

6. The defendant JOHN BOLDEN was a resident of Nassau County, New
York, and was a New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) detective. BOLDEN also served
as a tax preparer who operated, and owned partnership interests in, approximately three franchise
locations for a tax preparation business (the “Tax Preparation Business”).

7. The defendant ANTHONY CARREIRA was a resident of Staten
Island, New York, and was an NYPD detective. Together with BOLDEN, CARREIRA
operated, and owned partnership interests in, one or more Tax Preparation Business franchise
locations.

8. The defendant CHRISTIAN MCKENZIE was a resident of Suffolk
County, New York, and was BOLDEN’s cousin.

9. Co-Conspirator #1, an individual whose identity is known to the Grand
Jury, founded and operated the Tax Preparation Business, which had multiple franchisees and
locations throughout New York and elsewhere, including the ones operated by the defendants

| JOHN BOLDEN and ANTHONY CARREIRA.

The Fraudulent Conduct

10. Between approximately May 2020 and October 2022, the defendant

JOHN BOLDEN defrauded the SBA and several financial institutions administering the PPP of
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document36 _ Filed 09/09/24 Page 4 of 9 PagelD #: 70

federal COVID-19 emergency-relief funds meant for distressed small businesses by working
with his clients and co-conspirators, including the defendants ANTHONY CARREIRA and
CHRISTIAN MCKENZIE, and Co-Conspirator #1, to obtain PPP funds to which they were not
entitled. BOLDEN helped to obtain PPP funds for himself, CARREIRA, MCKENZIE and
others by submitting, or causing to be submitted, online loan applications that contained
materially false and fraudulent information. As part of his efforts to defraud, BOLDEN
prepared or provided tax documents containing one or more materially false and fraudulent
representations via email to his clients and others to be used to acquire PPP loans. These tax
documents, which accompanied the fraudulent PPP loan applications, used figures that did not
require BOLDEN, his co-conspirators and his clients to submit additional supporting
documentation when applying for loan forgiveness. MCKENZIE acted as an intermediary who
referred clients to BOLDEN. In furtherance of the fraud, the materially false and fraudulent
representations contained in these loan applications and tax documents were specifically
designed to mislead the SBA and financial institutions administering the PPP into disbursing
various loans to recipients not entitled to them, which they did.

11. As a result of this fraudulent conduct, the SBA and financial institutions
administering the PPP disbursed loans via wire transfer to bank accounts controlled by the

defendants JOHN BOLDEN, ANTHONY CARREIRA and CHRISTIAN MCKENZIE.
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document 36 Filed 09/09/24 Page 5of9PagelD #: 71

COUNT ONE
(Disaster Relief Fraud)

12. The allegations contained in paragraphs one through 1] are realleged and
incorporated as if fully set forth in this paragraph.

13. In or about and between May 2020 and October 2022, both dates being
approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the defendant
JOHN BOLDEN, together with others, did knowingly and intentionally make one or more
materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations, and make and use one or
more false writings and documents knowing the same to contain materially false, fictitious and
fraudulent statements and representations, in connection with a procurement of property and
services related to an emergency declaration under Section 501 of the Stafford Act, to wit:
Proclamation 9994 of March 13, 2020 by the President of the United States of America Declaring
a National Emergency Concerning a Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak, which
benefits were authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed and paid in and affecting
interstate and foreign commerce.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1040(a)(2), 1040(b)(1), 2 and 3551 et
seq.)

COUNT TWO
(Wire Fraud Conspiracy)

14. ‘The allegations contained in paragraphs one through 11 are realleged and
incorporated as if fully set forth in this paragraph.

15. Inor about and between May 2020 and October 2022, both dates being
approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the defendant

JOHN BOLDEN, together with others including Co-Conspirator #1, did knowingly and
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document36 _ Filed 09/09/24 Page 6 of 9PagelD #: 72

intentionally conspire to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud the SBA and one or more
financial institutions administering the PPP, and to obtain money and property from the SBA and
said financial institutions by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations
and promises, and for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice, to transmit and cause to
be transmitted, by means of wire communication in interstate commerce, writings, signs, signals,
pictures and sounds, which offense occurred in relation to, and involved one or more benefits
authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed and paid in connection with, a
presidentially declared emergency under Section 501 of the Stafford Act, to wit: fraudulent
online applications for one or more PPP loans and emails containing supporting tax
documentation for one or more PPP loans, contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section
1343.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 3551 et seq.)

COUNT THREE
(Wire Fraud Conspiracy)

16. The allegations contained in paragraphs one through 11 are realleged and
incorporated as if fully set forth in this paragraph.

17. In or about and between May 2020 and October 2022, both dates being
approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the
defendants JOHN BOLDEN and CHRISTIAN MCKENZIE, together with others, did knowingly
and intentionally conspire to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud the SBA and one or more
financial institutions administering the PPP, and to obtain money and property from the SBA and
said financial institutions by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations
and promises, and for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice, to transmit and cause to

be transmitted, by means of wire communication in interstate commerce, writings, signs, signals,
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document 36 Filed 09/09/24 Page 7 of 9 PagelD #: 73

pictures and sounds, which offense occurred in relation to, and involved one or more benefits
authorized, transported, transmitted, transferred, disbursed and paid in connection with, a
presidentially declared emergency under Section 501 of the Stafford Act, to wit: fraudulent
online applications for one or more PPP loans and emails containing supporting tax
documentation for one or more PPP loans, contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section
1343.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349 and 3551 et seq.)

COUNTS FOUR THROUGH SIX
(Wire Fraud)

18. The allegations contained in paragraphs one through 11 are realleged and
incorporated as if fully set forth in this paragraph.

19. ‘In or about and between May 2020 and October 2022, both dates being
approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the
defendants JOHN BOLDEN, ANTHONY CARREIRA and CHRISTIAN MCKENZIE, together
with others, did knowingly and intentionally devise a scheme and artifice to defraud the SBA and
one or more financial institutions administering the PPP, and to obtain money and property by
means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.

20. For the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice, the defendants
JOHN BOLDEN, ANTHONY CARREIRA and CHRISTIAN MCKENZIE, together with
others, did transmit and cause to be transmitted, by means of wire communication in interstate
commerce, writings, signs, signals, pictures and sounds, as set forth in the chart below, which
offenses occurred in relation to, and involved one or more benefits authorized, transported,
transmitted, transferred, disbursed and paid in connection with, a presidentially declared

emergency under Section 501 of the Stafford Act, to wit: fraudulent online applications for one
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document 36 Filed 09/09/24 Page 8 of 9 PagelD #: 74

or more PPP loans and emails containing supporting tax documentation for one or more PPP

loans.
Count Defendant(s) | Approximate Date Description
FOUR BOLDEN and __ | May 17, 2020 Email from BOLDEN to
CARREIRA CARREIRA attaching fictitious tax
document
FIVE BOLDEN July 17, 2021 Submission of PPP loan forgiveness
application on BOLDEN’s behalf
SIX BOLDEN and | July 28, 2021 Submission of PPP loan forgiveness
MCKENZIE application on MCKENZIE’s behalf

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343, 2 and 3551 et seq.)

CRIMINAL FORFEITURE ALLEGATION
AS TO COUNTS TWO THROUGH SIX

21. The United States hereby gives notice to the defendants charged in Counts
Two through Six that, upon their conviction of any of such offenses, the government will seek
forfeiture in accordance with Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a)(2), which requires any
person convicted of such offenses to forfeit any property constituting, or derived from, proceeds
obtained directly or indirectly as a result of such offenses.

22. ‘If any of the above-described forfeitable property, as a result of any act or
omission of the defendants:

(a) cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;

(b) has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party;

(c) has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court;

(d) has been substantially diminished in value; or

(e) has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided

without difficulty;
Case 1:24-cr-00361-DG Document 36 _ Filed 09/09/24 Page 9of9PagelD #: 75

it is the intent of the United States, pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), as
incorporated by Title 18, United States Code, Sections 982(b)(1), to seek forfeiture of any other
property of the defendants up to the value of the forfeitable property described in this forfeiture
allegation.

(Title 18, United States Code, Sections 982(a)(2) and 982(b)(1); Title 21, United

States Code, Section 853(p))

A TRUE BILL

/s/

By David Puthuck, Sasettant- AS. Attorney
BREON PEACE

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK


File and source

File

36-indictment-as-to-john-bolden-anthony-carreira-christian-mcke.pdf

Size

467,522 bytes

SHA-256

8767dc6a36b998ce57b4111e14c32869f87ae027c5088dce877c34556a89490a

Our copy

36-indictment-as-to-john-bolden-anthony-carreira-christian-mcke.pdf

Original

PACER (login required)