CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cuyahoga County grand jury this week indicted two former Cleveland police officers accused of defrauding a COVID-19-era business loan program.
Mackenley Weaver, 29, and Anthony Shumpert, 30, each face felony charges of grand theft and tampering with records.
Weaver, of Brooklyn, received around $20,000 through the state’s Paycheck Protection Program in April 2021 after he lied about owning a T-shirt business, according to county prosecutors.
The program, rolled out in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, provided small businesses with federal funding for payroll and expenses. Applicants could seek loans federally or through the state.
Records show Weaver resigned in good standing from Cleveland Division of Police in May 2024. He began working for the department in March 2022, nearly a year after the alleged offense.
Shumpert, of Cleveland, received around $37,000 across two loans in 2021 after he lied about owning a barbershop, prosecutors said.
Records show he resigned in lieu of termination from the department in March 2024. He had been working as a Cleveland police officer since September 2019.
Court records on Friday showed neither defendant has yet retained or been assigned an attorney. Both are scheduled for a June 18 initial appearance in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
A police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Weaver and Shumpert are the latest of several suspects who have been charged in the county with stealing through the state’s program. Dozens more area residents who submitted federal applications have been charged in federal court.
The government loaned more than $500 billion as part of the program.
According to the latest COVID-19 fraud statistics from the Internal Revenue Service, updated last year, its criminal investigation unit has investigated fraud totaling over $9 billion.
An Associated Press analysis in 2023 estimated fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding. Experts say the government placed too few restrictions on loan applicants and provided little oversight during the early stages of the pandemic.
