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Nnamdi Iheanacho has been indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering conspiracy, and concealment money laundering for stealing COVID-19 relief funds and federal tax refunds based on fraud and identity theft.

DANIEL M. ROSENBAUM owned Alexander & Rosenbaum Financial Group LLC, an insurance agency in Kenilworth, Ill.

BOSTON – A Plymouth, Mass. man pleaded guilty today to his involvement in a COVID-19 relief fund fraud scheme.

Kaymeisha Keyes, 32, most recently of Tracy, pleaded guilty today to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced today to 210 months in federal prison for using stolen identities to fraudulently obtain more than $1,568,000 in COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment benefits, and for stealing title to dozens of cars by presenting forged documents to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Tomeka Glenn, a/k/a “Tomeka Harris” and “Tomeka Davis,” age 47, of Windsor Mill, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, relating to the submission of millions of dollars in fraudulent COVID-19 CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that YOHAURIS RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ was sentenced to 79 months in prison in connection with her participation in a fraudulent scheme to obtain over $16 million in Government benefits intended to provide relief to individuals without employment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This audit report is the fifth and final in a series of audit reports on Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) claims processing during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report identifies that Michigan's UIA did not accurately assess fraud penalties on claims when it determined intentional misrepresentation occurred, and estimates the agency undercalculated penalties on these claims by nearly 50 percent.

A 10-count indictment was unsealed today charging Deshawn Oshaea Campbell, 36, and Rochelle Pasley, 33, both of Citrus Heights, with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces the results achieved by the Middle District of Florida’s efforts to combat fraud related to COVID-19. Those efforts have included complementary actions by the United States Attorney’s Office’s (USAO-MDFL) Criminal, Asset Recovery, Appellate, and Civil Divisions, along with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

James McAuliffe filed false claims for UI benefits using others’ personal identifying information without their knowledge and consent. He was sentenced to.60 months and ordered to pay $203,616 in restitution.

Makiah Miles, 30, of Compton, and Apryl Weston, 51, of Santa Maria, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit mail fraud for submitting fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to the California Employment Development Department (EDD) in the names of inmates.

NEWARK N.J. – A New York man was indicted today for conspiring to illegally obtain over $444,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

OLAJUWON HARRINGTON, also known as “OJ Harrington,” 31, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to 48 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for his theft of pandemic unemployment benefits.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – An indictment was unsealed after a California man was arrested and is scheduled to appear in a Salt Lake City federal courthouse. The eight count indictment charges the defendant for unlawfully collecting unemployment insurance during COVID-19 from California while living and working in Utah. He also allegedly assisted others in committing the same acts for a cut of their unemployment insurance funds administered under the CARES Act.

Tacoma – One of two Nigerian citizens who resided in Canada, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for defrauding pandemic unemployment benefit programs in multiple states, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging six individuals for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, relating to the submission of fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance (“UI”) claims. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The indictment was returned on October 24, 2023, and unsealed today upon the arrests of several defendants.

U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson sentenced Dementrous Von Smith, a/k/a “Meecho” and “El Meecho,” age 36, of Waldorf, Maryland, to 53 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, in relation to the submission of fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance claims in Maryland, California and Arizona totaling at least $1.5 million.

Austin Martin Siampwizi, who laundered money procured from fraudulent unemployment claims filed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has pleaded guilty to a charge of money laundering conspiracy.

NEWARK, N.J. – A Maryland man was sentenced today to 41 months in prison for illegally obtaining more than $2 million in COVID-19 relief funds.

Terence Aubrey Larker, 37, of Las Vegas, previously of Sacramento, was sentenced Tuesday to four years and 10 months in prison for mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to defraud the Unemployment Insurance benefit program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ronald House, who applied for unemployment insurance in his name and the names of others in multiple states during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge.

A Riverside County woman who participated in a scheme that used stolen identities to fraudulently apply for just over $2.8 million in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison.

Federal inmates Jason Haddox, age 40, and Jonathan Henry, age 32, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and Henry also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, relating to the submission of fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance benefits. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The federal CARES Act created new federal unemployment compensation (UC) programs including Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, increasing the weekly benefit amount, and expanding eligibility to claimants not otherwise eligible for unemployment benefits. From March 15, 2020, through June 30, 2022, the Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) paid $39.9 billion in UC claims from 5.8 million claims created for 3.48 claimants. This audit report is the fourth of a series of five audit reports on UIA claims...

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...

Jeremy Graves has been sentenced for theft of government funds and aggravated identity theft for stealing identities to file fraudulent Unemployment Insurance (“UI”) claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SAN DIEGO – Eduard Ghiocel and his wife, Floarea Ghiocel, were sentenced in federal court today to 36 months and 30 months, respectively, for laundering $1.4 million in proceeds from dozens of grand thefts, robberies and swindles targeting mostly elderly victims in San Diego County.

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man admitted that he conspired to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man admitted that he conspired to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

BOSTON – Former Massachusetts State Senator Dean Tran was arrested today and charged in federal court in Boston with allegedly scheming to defraud the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and collecting income that he failed to report to the IRS.

The objective of this audit was to determine whether the Department of Commerce, Division of Employment Security (DES) limited improper payments to less than 10 percent of paid claims as required by the U.S. Department of Labor, and if not to identify the impact and causes of improper payments. DES reported that the improper unemployment insurance payment rate averaged 18 percent during the period of April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2021. The Auditor noted that DES management should implement U.S. Department of Labor recommendations, best practices, and strategies to limit DES’s improper...

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, woman was arrested on charges that she fraudulently obtained Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and unemployment insurance benefits totaling $694,212.