Reports

ROBERT CARTER engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in unemployment insurance funds during the Covid-19 pandemic.

From March 2020 through June 2021, the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) workforce increased from 754 to a monthly high of 4,410 in April 2021. UIA expended $171.7 million through June 2021 for the additional staffing resources. During this period, UIA processed 5.2 million UI claims and paid over $36.5 billion in UI benefits. The objectives for this audit were to assess the sufficiency of selected UIA practices for workers onboarding and offboarding during the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide information on the administrative funding available to UIA during the COVID-19 pandemic and other...

SAN JUAN, P.R. – On March 10, 2022, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Martín Scamaroni-Cintrón with money laundering violations related to fraudulently obtained funds from the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), and the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda).

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Providence man who filed fraudulent online COVID-relief unemployment insurance claims in five states pled guilty today in federal court to a charge of wire fraud, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A West Warwick man who admitted to a federal judge that he participated in a conspiracy to use the stolen identities of others to gain COVID related unemployment insurance benefits was sentenced today to three years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A West Warwick man was arraigned on Monday in U.S. District Court on charges contained in a federal indictment alleging that he participated in a conspiracy to use the stolen identities of others to gain COVID related unemployment insurance benefits, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in Colorado and nationwide led to an increase in claims for benefits. For example, the Department received 1,100 percent more claims in Calendar Year 2020 than it received in Calendar Year 2019.

LAS VEGAS – A California man who admitted to fraudulently obtaining over $170,000 in unemployment benefits — by submitting multiple unemployment claims in other people’s names and using benefits debit cards not belonging to him — was sentenced today to 30 months in prison.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging four Maryland residents with federal conspiracy and wire fraud charges related to a CARES Act unemployment insurance fraud scheme with more than $3 million in losses. The indictment was returned on July 13, 2022, and unsealed today upon the arrests of the defendants.