In yet another example of Covid-era pandemic relief funding having been hoovered up by scheming fraudsters rather than going to those who needed and were meant to receive it, the Department of Justice just got three people from the swing state of Georgia sentenced to years in prison for a $30 million fraud scheme.
According to the DOJ. the three individuals managed to file thousands of fake unemployment benefits claims with the Georgia Department of Labor, with the benefits they were drawing from originally earmarked for unemployment relief during the pandemic, when many businesses had to shut down. Unsurprisingly, their scheme was found aout and now they face significant jail time.
Announcing as much in a press release, the DOJ said, “Three individuals were sentenced yesterday for their participation in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL), out of tens of millions of dollars in benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Continuing, the DOJ described the sentences each criminal received, saying, “Macovian Doston, 31, of Vienna, Georgia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date. Shatara Hubbard, 36, of Warner Robins, Georgia, was sentenced to 6 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date. Torella Wynn, 33, of Cordele, Georgia, was sentenced to one year in prison followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date.”
The DOJ then turned to descriving the overall crime the three fraudsters committed. Summarizing it, the press release explained, “According to court documents and evidence presented in court, from March 2020 through November 2022, Doston, Hubbard, Wynn and their co-conspirators caused more than 5,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance (UI) claims to be filed with the GaDOL, resulting in at least $30 million in stolen benefits.”
The press rlease then went on to note that they fabricated both fake employers and imaginary employees, often using identities that they stole, and then used those made up people and employers to file “fraudulent unemployment insurance claims on the GaDOL website.”
Continuing, the DOJ’s press release noted that they managed to obtain the stolen identities by paying off a hospital network employee for patient information and buying stolen information over the internet. After submitting the fake claims, the “co-conspirators caused the stolen UI funds to be disbursed via prepaid debit cards mailed to various locations.”
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Commenting on the massive scheme and the sentencing, the DOJ’s criminal division head, Matthew Galeotti, noted, “The defendants orchestrated a $30 million fraud by using stolen identities to obtain thousands of unemployment insurance payouts under false pretenses.
Continuing, he noted that the DOJ would continue searching for and prosecuting such schemes, saying, “The Criminal Division will continue to aggressively combat complex frauds that waste public funds. I thank the prosecutors and our law enforcement partners for their diligence and dedication to seeking justice for the United States.”
Also chiming in was a a Department of Labor Special Agent, Mathew Broadhurst. He said, commenting on the scheme, “Macovian Doston, Shatara Hubbard, and Torella Wynn engaged in a scheme to defraud the GaDOL by creating several fictitious employer accounts. After creating the fictitious accounts, the defendants submitted thousands of fraudulent UI claims to GaDOL to obtain UI benefits in the names of identity theft victims and other unwitting individuals who were not entitled to such benefits.”
Adding to that, he described how the scheme impacted victims and how law enforcement is working to stop such schemes, saying, “The identity theft victims and unwitting participants were purported employees of several fictitious companies, which were created to execute this fraud scheme. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the UI system from those who exploit this benefit program.”
Watch the Labor Secretary comment on the matter of massive unemployment fraud here: