Broward Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Charged for PPP Fraud – Fraud Friday

February 9, 2024

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Broward Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Charged for PPP Fraud – Fraud Friday

In the first update about the Broward County Sheriff’s Office since October 2023, a former lieutenant is being charged with two counts of wire fraud in connection to $167,000 in PPP loans. To recap, 17 employees of the Broward Sheriff’s Office were formally accused of committing PPP fraud last October, and there is a possibility of more to come. Those being accused range in positions from deputies to ranking officers. Before the indictments were announced, the Sheriff’s Office began internal suspensions of the employees and took away their uniforms, guns, and badges.

Now, Ernest Bernard Gonder Jr. is accused of submitting false and fraudulent PPP applications for two companies. The first PPP loan was submitted on April 1, 2021, for a company named EBG Properties LLC. He allegedly misrepresented the number of employees and the monthly payroll in the PPP applications. For documentation, he submitted multiple fraudulent IRS Forms 941. This loan was approved for $106,540.

Only five days later, Gonder allegedly submitted his second PPP loan application. The application was for a different company known as The Impact Center of Broward County Inc. He is being accused of making false representations about the company’s average monthly payroll and number of employees, and he also allegedly submitted fraudulent IRS Forms 941. This loan was approved for $61,210.

The United States Attorney’s Office reports that investigators allege Gonder did not use the funds for their intended purposes, instead using the proceeds to “enrich himself”. He then applied for and received forgiveness for both PPP loans.

Unlike employees who were previously charged, Gonder appeared to have obtained bigger pandemic loans. Together, the seventeen individuals who were previously charged collected just over $495,000 in relief funds, but Gonder alone obtained almost $168,000.

Source:
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release

Read our previous reporting:
Fraud Friday – 40+ Broward Sheriff’s Office Employees in the Hot Seat, Accused of PPP Fraud – October 13, 2023