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Leicester Man Pleads Guilty to Unemployment and Loan Fraud Related to COVID-19 Pandemic

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts dated November 17, 2021, announcing a guilty plea in federal court in Worcester. It states that William Cordor, 26, of Leicester, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, four counts of wire fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft, after an indictment on April 1, 2021 and a superseding indictment with co-conspirator Destinee Snay on July 12, 2021. According to the release, Cordor attempted to file unemployment claims with the State of Nevada using third parties' identifying information, which Nevada did not approve, and obtained an SBA Economic Injury Disaster loan using a third party's identity. It states that in May 2020 Cordor agreed to surrender $79,000 in proceeds of a separate scheme.

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“Leicester Man Pleads Guilty to Unemployment and Loan Fraud Related to COVID-19 Pandemic.” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2021-11-23-leicester-man-pleads-guilty-to-unemployment-and-loan-fraud-1e77605f71/, SHA-256 ce19f7d65e5582ccce9d9197ac5d1a3f95ade8aeb0bb901e8aaf681eee608fd1.

Full text

                Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell
                             District of Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                          CONTACT: CHRISTINA DiIORIO-STERLING
November 17, 2021                                                  Phone (617) 748-3356
www.justice.gov/usao/ma/news.html                               usama.media@usdoj.gov

                                     twitter.com/dmanews1

  LEICESTER MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO UNEMPLOYMENT AND LOAN FRAUD
                  RELATED TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

       BOSTON – A Leicester man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Worcester in
connection with his involvement in loan and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) fraud
schemes.

        William, Cordor, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud,
four counts of wire fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft. Cordor was initially
indicted on April 1, 2021 and was subsequently charged in a superseding indictment with co-
conspirator Destinee Snay on July 12, 2021.

        Between May and October 2020, Cordor engaged in a fraudulent unemployment scheme
by attempting to file numerous claims for unemployment with the State of Nevada by taking
advantage of PUA funds made available due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cordor filed the claims
using the names, Social Security numbers and other personal identifying information of third
parties for whom he had no legal authority to file such claims. The State of Nevada ultimately
detected that the claims were fraudulent and did not approve the PUA funds.

        Cordor also engaged in a second wire fraud scheme using stolen identities to fraudulently
apply for COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster loans made available by the Small Business
Administration (SBA). Cordor used a third party’s personal identifying information to obtain a
loan from the SBA under false pretenses, and then used the fraudulent funds for his own
enrichment, including to pay for plane tickets, hotel accommodations, restaurants, entertainment
and shopping during a Florida vacation.

       In May 2020, Cordor agreed to surrender to federal authorities the balance of $79,000 in
his bank account that were proceeds of a separate unemployment fraud scheme in Massachusetts.
This occurred before Cordor filed the fraudulent unemployment claim with Nevada in July 2020.

       The charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud each provide for a
sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of
$250,000. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence of two
years in prison to be served consecutively to another other sentenced imposed, one year of
supervised release and a fine of $250,000. 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; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in
Charge of Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations; and
Frederick J. Regan, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office made
the announcement today. Valuable assistance in the case was provided by the Leicester and
Marlboro Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John T. Mulcahy of Mendell’s Criminal
Division and Danial Bennett of the Worcester Branch Office 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 remaining defendant
is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

                                                  ###

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