FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy has been arrested after he allegedly defrauded the department out of more than $15,000 when he allegedly falsified overtime hours and lied about the number of hours he worked.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony announced the arrest of Detective Luis Silberberg, 35, during a Thursday news conference outside BSO’s headquarters near Fort Lauderdale.
“This employee had ended up conducting several different criminal violations,” Tony said. “Committing theft from this organization is committing theft against this community. We work for this community. The community pays our salaries, and this employee failed to perform his jobs, and he misused the trust that the public put in him.”
According to BSO’s Public Corruption Unit, Silberberg falsified overtime forms on seven occasions, lied more than 50 times about working a full-time shift when records showed he didn’t and ultimately defrauded BSO out of more than $15,000 in compensation.
The arrest report states the 35-year-old “purported that he had worked an entire day, when in fact he did not enter Broward County, or by only working a portion of his regular shift in Broward County, and then returning to his residence within Miami-Dade County.”
Silberberg faces charges of grand theft, official misconduct and obtaining property under $20,000 by fraud.
“We have to be accountable,” Tony said. “We have to be transparent, and the only way that happens is when we find circumstances or situations that violate the law that we take action, that we not wait for something to show up on a television channel to be notified about our employees.”
7News cameras captured Silberberg leaving the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale Thursday night after posting bond.
When he asked if he wanted to comment on the arrest, Silberberg remained silent before getting into a waiting car.
As the investigation into the 35-year-old’s actions continues, Tony promised to take quick action following any future misconduct within the department.
“We’re not just going to be doing suspensions and terminating employees from now on,” Tony said. “If there’s an opportunity where probable cause exists, when we see things like this that are so grotesque, the police have to be able to police themselves, and that’s the culture that we’ve established here.”
Silberberg has been with the department since 2006.
He’s been suspended without pay.
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