FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Former Officer Charged with Fraud, Money Laundering, and False Official Statements

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Miami (April 29, 2024)

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle, City of Miami Police Chief Manuel A. Morales, and the State Attorney’s Office Public Corruption Task Force announce the arrest of former City of Miami Police Officer 47-year-old Djimy Joseph. All details of this alleged criminal activity are clearly outlined in the arrest warrant.

Djimy Joseph is being charged with:

• 1 Count Organized Scheme to Defraud Over $50,000 – 1st Degree Felony
• 1 Count Money Laundering Over $100,000 – 1st Degree Felony
• 1 Count False Official Statements – 2nd Degree Misdemeanor

“Public Corruption in any form cannot and must not be tolerated at any level of public service,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “Mr. Joseph’s actions show a deliberate and intentional pattern of behavior that was meant for his personal financial gain at the expense of breaking the law he had sworn to uphold as an officer and betraying the trust the public placed in him.”

A routine licensing inspection by the Florida Department of Alcoholic Beverages and Tabaco (ABT) revealed that Joseph was the owner of Yoa’s Café Inc. a/k/a Sabor Latino Bar & Grill located at 2350 N.W. 7 St., Miami Florida in clear violation of section 561.25 of the Florida Statute which states that active law enforcement officers are prohibited from owning and/operating a business that sells or serves alcoholic beverages. Joseph was charged with a second-degree misdemeanor and a public corruption investigation was opened.

Besides revealing that he also owned other businesses, the investigation exposed that Joseph fraudulently applied for and received over $246,000 in COVID Relief loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) and other government programs provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”).

Bank records and sworn testimony of various former employees create a picture of how actual employee payments contrast with the statements Mr. Joseph indicated on the PPP application.

The Arrest Warrant outlines how he likewise submitted false statements and misrepresented the number of employees and monthly payroll amounts, business revenues, and expenses to receive a larger loan.