Former State Unemployment Contractor and Co-Conspirator Indicted for Stealing Unemployment Insurance Benefits

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, dated April 26, 2022, announcing an indictment of Autumn Mims, 29, a former contract employee with the State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, and William Haynes, 25. The indictment charges both with conspiring to commit wire fraud, six counts of wire fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft, and charges Mims with possessing fifteen or more unauthorized access devices. According to court records, Mims worked as an Unemployment Insurance Examiner and is alleged to have used insider access to process claims in the names of third parties without their knowledge. It is also alleged that Mims and Haynes caused bank accounts to be opened in third parties' names to receive the claim payments and used the funds for their own benefit.

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                                      Department of Justice

                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office

                                     Eastern District of Michigan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  Tuesday, April 26, 2022



    Former State Unemployment Contractor and Co-
Conspirator Indicted for Stealing Unemployment Insurance
                          Benefits
DETROIT - A former contract employee with the State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance
Agency, and one co-conspirator, were charged today in an indictment for their roles in a scheme to
steal unemployment insurance benefits, announced United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Joining in the announcement were Special Agent-in-Charge Irene Lindow, Chicago Region, U.S.
Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, FBI Special Agent in Charge James A. Tarasca and
Julia Dale, Director of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.

Charged are Autumn Mims, 29, of Troy, Michigan and William Haynes, 25, of Detroit, Michigan.

The indictment charges Mims and Haynes with conspiring to commit wire fraud, six counts of wire
fraud, and three counts of aggravated identity theft. Mims is also charged with illicitly possessing
fifteen or more unauthorized access devices.

According to court records, Autumn Mims worked for the State of Michigan Unemployment
Insurance Agency as an Unemployment Insurance Examiner. Her duties included reviewing,
processing, and verifying the legitimacy of unemployment insurance claims.

It is alleged that shortly after Mims began working for the State of Michigan, she began using her
insider access to fraudulently process claims in the names of third parties without their knowledge or
authorization. It is also alleged that as part of the scheme, Mims and Haynes caused unauthorized
bank accounts to be fraudulently opened in the names of third parties and caused unemployment
insurance claim payments to be issued to those illegitimate accounts. It is also alleged in the
indictment that Mims and Haynes took control of those unemployment insurance claim payments
and used the funds for their own benefit.

During the execution of a search warrant at Mims’s residence, law enforcement officers located
significant evidence of fraud, including personal identifying information of third parties and receipts
relating to transactions made using proceeds of the fraud scheme.

Mims was previously charged in a criminal complaint for her alleged role in the scheme.

“Those who commit unemployment insurance fraud not only steal from honest taxpayers but they
also make it more difficult for legitimate claimants to receive the assistance to which they are
entitled,” stated United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison. “We will continue to work tirelessly to fight
unemployment abuse and fraud.”

“An important part of the mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate fraud involving
unemployment insurance programs. This is particularly true when an allegation involves misconduct
by the very government employees and contractors charged with overseeing those programs. We will
continue to work with our law enforcement partners and state workforce agencies to aggressively
investigate unemployment insurance fraud,” said Irene Lindow, Special Agent-in-Charge, Chicago
Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

“These defendants conspired to use Mims’ official position to take money meant for people who were
unemployed during the pandemic. That money was vital to many of our community members who
were suffering pandemic-related economic challenges,” said Special Agent in Charge James A.
Tarasca of the FBI’s Detroit Division. “The FBI will continue to work alongside our state and federal
partners to investigate unemployment insurance fraud.”

“The unemployment insurance benefits system is built on trust that the residents of Michigan will
receive the money they are entitled to when they lose their jobs through no fault of their own,” said
Julia Dale, Director of the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. “We will not tolerate an
abuse of that trust. I am committed to our partnership with law enforcement as together we identify
bad actors and bring them to justice.”

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew J. Yahkind. The
investigation is being conducted jointly by the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Unemployment Insurance Agency.

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):
Coronavirus
Component(s):
USAO - Michigan, Eastern
                                                                                   Updated April 26, 2022


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