Tampa man pleads guilty to $500K in COVID loan fraud

A Tampa man has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $500,000 in COVID relief funds. 

Terrance Bradford, 46, pleaded guilty to eight counts of wire fraud and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count, according to an announcement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. 

He also faces a forfeiture order of $533,648.32 — the alleged proceeds he obtained through fraudulent loan applications.

A sentencing date has not yet been set, the announcement says. 

According to court records, Bradford defrauded the Small Business Administration by submitting multiple false Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program loan applications between April 2020 and March 2021. At the time he was applying for the loans, Bradford, say authorities, was excluded from receiving any federal contracts and one of his businesses had filed for bankruptcy. This precluded him from receiving any economic assistance, court records show.

The office did not specify Bradford’s occupation. 

The PPP and EIDL loan programs fall under the umbrella of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act. In May 2021, the Attorney General established a COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.