MIAMI – A former Miami police officer bonded out of jail on multiple charges that include money laundering Wednesday afternoon but didn’t have anything to say to Local 10 News as he covered his face while walking out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Djimy Joseph, 47, was arrested by the Miami Police Department Tuesday and was released on a $20,500 total bond.
Jail records show Joseph is facing one count each of organized scheme to defraud over $50,000, money laundering over $100,000 and making false official statements.
According to prosecutors, a routine licensing inspection by the Florida Department of Alcoholic Beverages and Tabaco (ABT) revealed that Joseph was the owner of a now-boarded up Yoa’s Café Inc., a/k/a Sabor Latino Bar & Grill, located at 2350 NW Seventh St.
Joseph’s arrest report also states that he owned other businesses that included Djimy Properties, LLC, DJ Motors Transportation and Logistics, LLC., and Fondation L.O.V.E. Corp.
But the problem is that a Florida statute states that active law enforcement officers are prohibited from owning and/or operating a business that sells or serves alcoholic beverages, which Joseph was at the time, according to an arrest warrant.
Prosecutors said Joseph was initially charged with a misdemeanor for that offense and a public corruption investigation was opened.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, that investigation revealed that Joseph also owned other businesses and had “fraudulently applied for and received over $246,000 in COVID Relief loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (‘PPP’) and other government programs provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (‘CARES Act’).”
Prosecutors said the warrant outlines how Joseph’s statements on the PPP application contrast with bank records and the sworn testimony of former employees regarding how they were paid.
Prosecutors said the warrant also outlines how he submitted false statements, misrepresenting “the number of employees he had and monthly payroll amounts, business revenues and expenses to receive a larger loan.”
“Public Corruption in any form cannot and must not be tolerated at any level of public service,” State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “Mr. Joseph’s actions show a deliberate and intentional pattern of behavior that was meant for his personal financial gain at the expense of breaking the law he had sworn to uphold as an officer and betraying the trust the public placed in him.”
While in court, Joseph said he plans to hire a private attorney to represent him in the case.