Ex-NYPD detective from Long Island gets 4 years in COVID relief scheme

A former New York City police detective from Valley Stream was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison for orchestrating a wide-ranging COVID-19 relief scheme that funneled millions in stolen funds to clients, family members and fellow officers.

John Bolden, 47, was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court by U.S. District Judge Diane Gujarati on a wire fraud conspiracy charge that he pleaded guilt to in February, prosecutors said.

Judge Gujarati also ordered Bolden to pay $303,138 in restitution and forfeit $112,002.

Bolden, working as an NYPD detective at the time of the crimes, owned a stake in a tax-preparation franchise, authorities said. He used it as the engine of his scheme, said Joseph Nocella, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Between May 2020 and October 2022, Bolden prepared fictitious IRS Schedule C documents stuffed with false income and employment information, then submitted fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loan applications on behalf of more than 65 individuals, federal prosecutors said.

In all, he sought to steal nearly $3 million from a program designed to help small businesses survive the pandemic, prosecutors said. He succeeded in stealing at least several hundred thousand dollars, according to Nocella.

Among those who Bolden helped defraud the government was fellow former NYPD detective Anthony Carreira, 43, of Staten Island, who submitted phony documentation to obtain PPP funds, and Bolden’s cousin, Christian McKenzie, 48, of Wheatley Heights, prosecutors said.

McKenzie not only fraudulently obtained a loan himself but steered additional applicants to Bolden in exchange for a cut of the proceeds, Nocella said.

Carreira was sentenced in March to time served. McKenzie’s sentencing date is July 14.

“Despite being a police officer sworn to uphold the law, the defendant organized a scheme that enabled dozens of individuals, including clients, family members and NYPD co-workers, to obtain millions in federal funds using fictitious tax records,” Nocella said.

“Bolden brazenly took advantage of a COVID relief program created to help struggling businesses survive an unprecedented national crisis,” he added.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle, Jr. said Bolden betrayed the oath he took to protect the community he served.

“While an overwhelming majority of NYPD employees strictly adhere to values of integrity and honor, there are those who exploit the system for personal enrichment,” Barnacle said.

Bolden comes from a law enforcement family. His grandfather Robert Bolden was an NYPD patrolmen who was killed off-duty while trying to stop a robbery in downtown Brooklyn.

In 2019, John Bolden helped lead an effort to re-open the cold-case murder of his grandfather.

_{Top: U.S. federal courthouse in Brooklyn (AP Photo/John Minchillo).}