Cop fired after using COVID relief funds on Mustang repairs

CORAL SPRINGS — A Coral Springs police officer who fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief money, and who then spent more than $21,000 for high-end fixes on his 1969 Ford Mustang, has been fired.

Jason Scott Carter, 45, was ordered last year to serve five years of probation and pay restitution following a federal conviction for fraudulently applying for a COVID-19 relief advance grant and low-interest loan, authorities say. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in October. He was officially fired from the police department in December, according to records released this week.

He earned $103,304 as a detective in the Special Victims Unit, and had worked for the agency since 2011, according to a spokesman.

Carter could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His attorney, David Bogenschutz, could not be reached for comment.

Federal prosecutors say he submitted a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan application for his business, Jason S. Carter Inc., in March 2020.

Prosecutors say he falsely certified that during the 12 months prior to Jan. 31, 2020, the business had gross revenues of

$100,000. “In reality, the business had only minimal gross revenues,” according to federal authorities.

Two months after he filed his loan application, he received a loan for

$29,000.

Carter also certified in his application that he would use the funds for business expenses to alleviate pandemic-related economic injury, but instead spent $21,788 on “high-end repairs” on his

1969 Ford Mustang from June 2022 through October 2022, officials said.

In December, in addition to being sentenced to five years of probation, he also was ordered to six months of home confinement, a $5,000 fine, and

$30,000 in restitution. The EIDL loans offer advances that do not need to be repaid, while the more well-known pandemic loans, PPP loans, which stands for Paycheck Protection Program, provide small-business loans based on a formula of their monthly payroll.