BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy and SWAT team member Alexandra Acosta was sentenced Tuesday in federal court for fraudulently applying for a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acosta, 38, of Tamarac, was sentenced to four months in prison. A jury previously convicted her of one count of conspiracy to defraud the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), two counts of false statements to the SBA, and one count of wire fraud.
Recommended Videos
According to U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, in 2021, Acosta “conspired with her tax preparer, Vilsaint St. Louis, to apply for and receive a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan for herself as a sole proprietor doing business as a realtor based upon materially false information about her average monthly income in 2019, including two falsified IRS tax forms submitted with the application.”
Prosecutors said Acosta also sought and received forgiveness of the fraudulently obtained PPP loan, which totaled over $20,000 in principal and interest.
In addition to her prison sentence, Acosta was also ordered to pay a $4,000 fine. Prosecutors confirmed that she previously repaid the fraudulently obtained loan funds.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, St. Louis pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and was also sentenced for his involvement in the scheme.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.