Former NYPD Det. John Bolden sentenced to 4 years for nearly $3M in COVID relief fraud

A former NYPD detective from Valley Stream was sentenced to 4 years in prison on Wednesday for running a scheme that attempted to steal nearly $3 million in pandemic business-relief loans.

John Bolden, 47, was also ordered to pay restitution of $303,138 and criminal forfeiture of $112,002. After leaving prison, he will serve 2 years' probation.

Bolden pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He faced up to 30 years in prison.

Bolden is among at least 35 Long Islanders who have been arrested for bilking more than $100 million from federal and state COVID relief programs, such as the Paycheck Protection Program loans, COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans and Employee Retention Credit, a Newsday analysis found.

In Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Diane Gujarati said Bolden had helped more than 65 people, including members of his family and NYPD colleagues, to fraudulently apply for PPP loans.

"We have an NYPD homicide detective committing a significant fraud," the judge said in handing down her sentence.

"This was not a momentary lapse of judgment by Mr. Bolden," the judge said. "This was sustained conduct. ... He defrauded the government out of a significant amount of money."

Bolden oversaw a scheme that attempted to steal almost $3 million in PPP loans between May 2020 and October 2022, according to a federal complaint.

Bolden used his skills as a tax preparer and owner of at least three tax preparation offices to create false Schedule C income tax forms that were used by the PPP borrowers to fraudulently seek forgiveness of their loans. Borrowers paid kickbacks to Bolden for the forms, which contained information about the borrower's employment, gross income and net income, the complaint states.

More than $303,000 was stolen from the PPP, and Bolden — as part of his plea agreement — will repay the U.S. Small Business Administration, which oversaw the loan program, prosecutors said.

Before learning his sentence, Bolden promised to be a productive member of society by caring for his autistic son and his father, who is battling cancer. Bolden also said he would get a job to help pay his daughters’ college tuition and support his wife.

"I swore to uphold the law on the job and in my personal life and I failed to do so," he said, referring to his two decades with the NYPD. He filed for retirement in October while suspended from his duties, Newsday has reported.

Bolden’s attorney, Esere J. Onaodowan, asked that he not be put behind bars, saying "Mr. Bolden acted out of fear" after his two business ventures failed.

"He couldn’t handle losing everything and not being able to support his family," she said, adding Bolden must take out a loan against his Valley Stream home to make the restitution and forfeiture payments.

Besides Bolden, other participants in the COVID-19 fraud scheme included his mother, cousin Christian McKenzie, 48, of Wheatley Heights, and NYPD Det. Anthony Carreira, 44, of Staten Island.

Carreira, who retired in 2023, has pleaded guilty and received no prison time when he was sentenced in March. McKenzie also has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on July 14.

In the packed courtroom on Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew D. Grubin called Bolden "the manager, the supervisor" of the fraud scheme but not its leader. That person, whom the prosecutor didn’t name, is the founder and operator of the tax prep business that sold a franchise to Bolden to operate three offices, according to court filings.

Responding to Bolden’s sentence, Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the police officer "brazenly took advantage of a COVID relief program created to help struggling businesses survive an unprecedented national crisis."

Nocella said he will continue "to prosecute fraud related to the pandemic," even though it's been more than six years since the coronavirus first struck.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.