Taunton Man Charged with Pandemic Unemployment and Mortgage Fraud

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts dated October 19, 2021, announcing the arrest of a Taunton man. It states that Clark Grant, 38, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of false statements on a loan and credit application, with an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein. According to charging documents, from approximately May 2020 to September 2021, Grant fraudulently obtained approximately $67,950 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits while working and collecting a salary from a full-time job. The release states that from May 2021 to July 2021, Grant allegedly made false statements to a mortgage lender to obtain a residential mortgage of approximately $410,000.

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Full text

                Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell
                             District of Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                          CONTACT: CHRISTINA DiIORIO-STERLING
October 19, 2021                                                   Phone (617) 748-3356
www.justice.gov/usao/ma/news.html                               usama.media@usdoj.gov

                                     twitter.com/dmanews1

                           TAUNTON MAN CHARGED WITH
             PANDEMIC UNEMPLOYMENT AND MORTGAGE FRAUD
 Defendant allegedly obtained more than $67,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits while at
                   the same time working and collecting a full-time salary

       BOSTON – A Taunton man was arrested today in connection with making alleged
fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims and for making false statements
in support of a residential mortgage application.

       Clark Grant, 38, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of false
statements on a loan and credit application. Grant will make an initial appearance in Boston this
afternoon at 3:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein.

        In March 2020, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act created a
temporary federal unemployment insurance program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(PUA), which in Massachusetts is administered by the Department of Unemployment
Assistance. This program is designed to provide unemployment benefits for individuals who are
not eligible for other types of unemployment benefits.

        According to charging documents, from approximately May 2020 to September 2021,
Grant fraudulently applied for and obtained approximately $67,950 in PUA benefits while at the
same time working and collecting a salary from his full-time job. In addition, from May 2021 to
July 2021, Grant allegedly made false statements to a mortgage lender in order to fraudulently
obtain a residential mortgage in the amount of approximately $410,000.

        The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three
years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of false statements on a loan
and credit application provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, up to five years of
supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district
court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
       Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Matthew Modafferi, Special Agent
in Charge of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Northeast Area Office;
Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector
General, Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation; Joleen D. Simpson, Special Agent in
Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston; and Massachusetts
Inspector General Glenn A. Cunha made the announcement today. The Taunton Police
Department provided valuable assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dustin Chao and Adam
Deitch of Mendell’s Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

         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.

      The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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