Reports

PROVIDENCE – A North Providence man who was receiving COVID-relief unemployment benefits in Rhode Island, and fraudulently applied for and collected more than $20,000 in unemployment benefits from two other states, has been sentenced to eighteen months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha and Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha.

A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging nine defendants in relation to a Maryland and California CARES Act COVID-19 unemployment insurance scheme. The indictment charges the defendants with wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft of United States Postal Office arrow keys. The indictment was returned on June 21, 2022, and unsealed upon the defendants’ self-surrenders and arrests.

A former United States Postal Service (USPS) mail carrier pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for scheming to steal more than $250,000 in unemployment insurance (UI) funds by making false claims of COVID-related job losses and for stealing UI debit cards intended for other people on his mail route.

Today, 42-year-old Royal Palm Beach, Florida resident Omar Smith pled guilty in South Florida federal court to lying on a coronavirus relief loan application and fraudulently obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars intended to help small businesses financially survive the Covid-19 pandemic.