Reports

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A Chickaloon man was sentenced yesterday to two years in prison for orchestrating a scheme to defraud the U.S. government of COVID-19 relief funds.

BOSTON – A former employee of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to fraudulently obtaining over $40,000 in pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) benefits.

Darnell Jones, also known as “EJ,” was sentenced today by United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry in federal court in Brooklyn to 145 months’ imprisonment for wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. During the height of the COVID‑19 pandemic, from March 2020 through August 2021, Jones used stolen personal identifying information to fraudulently obtain more than $800,000 from federally funded unemployment insurance programs established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

HONOLULU – United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Heidi Cafirma, 50, of Waipahu, Hawaii, pleaded guilty today to filing false tax returns and wire fraud related to her fraudulent application for unemployment assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beverly Ashbaugh, age 51, of Martinsburg, West Virginia, has admitted to wire fraud involving COVID 19 funding. According to court documents, Ashbaugh filed claims seeking Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) when the pandemic impacted her employment in March 2020.

BOSTON – A Boston man pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with using others’ identities to fraudulently obtain over $65,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits.

Medard Ulysse, age 38, of Miami, Florida, pleaded guilty today to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud in relation to multiple fraud schemes, including an elder “grandparent” scheme and a COVID-19 CARES Act Fraud scheme.