Former State Employee Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Insurance Fraud

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York dated Tuesday, September 21, 2021. It states that Tramaine Pope, age 33, of the Bronx, pled guilty to federal program theft and admitted abusing a position as a New York State Department of Labor employee to obtain $314,168 by submitting and approving 20 false unemployment insurance applications. In pleading guilty, Pope admitted receiving lists of names and personal identifying information from another individual and agreed to pay restitution of $314,168 to the State of New York. The release states that Pope faces up to 10 years in prison at sentencing on January 21, 2022 by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.

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Full text

                                      Department of Justice
                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                    Northern District of New York


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   Tuesday, September 21, 2021

    Former State Employee Pleads Guilty to Unemployment
                     Insurance Fraud
    Defendant Abused Access to State Systems and Obtained Over $300,000
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Tramaine Pope, age 33, of the Bronx, New York, pled guilty today to federal
program theft, and admitted to abusing her position as a New York State Department of Labor
(NYSDOL) employee to obtain $314,168 by submitting and approving 20 false unemployment
insurance applications. The funds stolen by Pope included benefits from federal programs intended
to help out-of-work New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon; Jonathan
Mellone, Special Agent in Charge, New York Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector
General (USDOL-OIG); Joshua McCallister, Acting Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the
United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge
of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and NYSDOL Commissioner
Roberta Reardon.

Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon stated: “Tramaine Pope violated the trust of her
fellow New Yorkers during a global public health crisis that left so many without work. She was
tasked with helping others at a time of substantial need, but instead exploited her position for
personal gain. With our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate and prosecute
those who abuse the public trust, and steal public funds, during this unprecedented pandemic.”

USDOL-OIG Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone stated: “Tramaine Pope abused her position
as a Senior Employment Security Clerk with the New York State Department of Labor to create and
approve fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. Pope obtained over $300,000 from these
fraudulent claims, a portion of which was earmarked for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. We
will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of unemployment
insurance benefit programs.”

In pleading guilty, Pope admitted to receiving lists of names and personal identifying information
from another individual. Pope then used her access to NYSDOL systems to submit and approve
fraudulent unemployment insurance claims using the names and other information she received.

Pope agreed to pay restitution in the amount of $314,168 to the State of New York.

Pope faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up
to 3 years when she is sentenced on January 21, 2022 by United States District Judge Mae A.
D’Agostino. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the
defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

USPIS Acting Inspector in Charge Joshua McCallister stated: “The actions of Ms. Pope to use the
trust given to her by the people of New York and her employer to abuse the system and steal from
those who were most in need during the pandemic are unconscionable. This case is a great example
of the collaborative effort of law enforcement to bring those to justice who commit criminal acts
against the people of New York.”

HSI Acting Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino stated: “HSI remains committed to working
closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those, like Pope, who have used
the COVID pandemic to defraud not only the taxpayer but also those eligible recipients in need of
legitimate COVID benefits.”

NYSDOL Commissioner Roberta Reardon stated: “There is no excuse for stealing from others,
especially when a person in place of trust abuses their position to knowingly commit fraud. Let this
serve as a reminder that if you break the law, you will be held accountable. I thank our partners in
the U.S. Attorney’s Office and all levels of law enforcement for their commitment to working with us
to fight Unemployment Insurance fraud.”

This case was investigated by USDOL-OIG, USPIS, HSI, and the NYSDOL Office of Special
Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua R. Rosenthal and
John T. Chisholm.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to
marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government
to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to
investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists
agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods,
augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information
and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s
response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by
calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-
5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-
disaster-complaint-form.
Topic(s):                                              Component(s):
Coronavirus                                            USAO - New York, Northern
Financial Fraud


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