Former police officer convicted in $18,000 PPP fraud scheme

A former Metropolitan Police Department officer from Hyattsville was convicted of turning taxpayer-funded pandemic relief into a personal spending account, a case that put a local face on the risk of emergency-aid fraud. Roberto Adams, 39, was found guilty of wire fraud after a federal jury deliberated for a day and a half, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Prosecutors said Adams used SuperKlean LLC, a janitorial services company that was not operating when the pandemic began, to obtain Paycheck Protection Program loans backed by the Small Business Administration. The program was created under the CARES Act to help small businesses hit by the COVID-19 shutdowns, but investigators said Adams used it for casinos, travel and personal bills instead.

The first loan came in July 2020 and was quickly gone. Prosecutors said Adams spent that money at casinos in Maryland and Las Vegas, on airfare and hotels in Miami, on restaurant and bar tabs, and even on hangover treatments. A second loan followed on Jan. 29, 2021, when $18,345 was deposited into Adams’s checking account after he applied eight days earlier on Jan. 21.

That second round of money also went to personal expenses. Prosecutors said Adams used it for more than $12,000 in back rent, along with clothing and high-end sneakers. In all, the case involved more than $18,000 in taxpayer-funded COVID-era disaster relief funds.

The fraud came to light during a job application in Seattle. Adams applied for a position with the Seattle Police Department in April 2021, and a detective reviewing his background check noticed the PPP loan. Adams had not disclosed it in his application or interview, as required. When confronted, prosecutors said, he falsely claimed the loan was meant to provide relief and assistance for his small business during the pandemic.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with substantial assistance from the Internal Affairs Division of the Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah Santiago and Caelainn Carney prosecuted the case, and U.S. District Court Judge Amit P. Mehta scheduled sentencing for Oct. 23.

For Prince George’s County, where Adams lived in Hyattsville, the verdict underscores how fast-moving emergency aid can be vulnerable when screening depends too heavily on self-reporting. The case suggests that post-disbursement checks, cross-agency coordination and disclosure requirements remain critical safeguards whenever public money is rushed out in a crisis.