Two Dozen D.C. Officers Probed For Pandemic Relief Fraud

Federal prosecutors and the Washington, D.C., police department’s internal affairs unit are investigating at least two dozen police officers who may have inappropriately pocketed federal pandemic relief dollars. Investigators are focused on whether officers fraudulently benefited from Paycheck Protection Program, part of more than $5 trillion in federal government spending aimed at offsetting COVID-19 impact, reports the Washington Post. A former D.C. police officer was convicted last month in federal court of wire fraud related to $35,000 in illegally obtained pandemic relief loans. It remains unclear if the officers now under investigation will face criminal charges.

The review spans issues ranging from potential violations of law to department policy. The potential for a wave of officers to leave active duty comes as the short-staffed department heads into summer months, when crime tends to spike. The department has 3,200 sworn officers, a half-century low. Some of the loans appear to have been fraudulently obtained; issues with others were limited to policy infractions, with officers having unapproved secondary employment. The Paycheck Protection Program has been scrutinized by the Justice Department in a broader effort to recover estimated billions of dollars in fraudulent pandemic relief payments. Established in 2020 to help small businesses at the height of the coronavirus, the program is one of several from the Small Business Administration that was vulnerable to abuse.