Former Claims Manager for Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency Sentenced In COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan dated July 21, 2022. It announces that Jermaine Rose, a former lead claims examiner for the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for participation in a $1.5 million pandemic-related unemployment insurance fraud scheme, after pleading guilty on April 22, 2022, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to court documents cited in the release, Rose used insider access to the agency's claims database from approximately April 2020 to approve claims submitted by co-conspirators, often for payments of between $50 and $150 per claim. The release states that a conservative estimate of the actual loss is approximately $1,011,000.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

                                     Department of Justice
                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                    Eastern District of Michigan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Thursday, July 21, 2022

    Former Claims Manager for Michigan Unemployment
   Insurance Agency Sentenced In COVID-19 Fraud Scheme
DETROIT - Jermaine Rose, a former lead claims examiner for the Michigan Unemployment
Insurance Agency (MUIA), was sentenced to two years in federal prison today arising from his
participation in a $1.5 million pandemic-related unemployment insurance fraud scheme, announced
United States Attorney Dawn N. Ison.

Joining in the announcement were Irene Lindow, Special Agent-in-Charge, Chicago Region, U.S.
Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and Special Agent in Charge John Marengo of the
United States Secret Service’s Detroit Field Office.

Jermaine Rose pleaded guilty on April 22, 2022, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud
arising out of his participation in a wide-ranging fraud scheme designed to provide Rose’s co-
conspirators with pandemic unemployment insurance benefits to which they were not entitled.

United States Attorney Ison stated “Corrupt public servants compromise the ability of the
government to function effectively and undermine confidence in all public programs. This
prosecution reflects the seriousness with which my office takes corruption and fraud in the public
sector as well as our commitment to prosecuting those who used a national crisis as an opportunity
to defraud the public.

“Jermaine Rose, while employed as a State of Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency lead
claims examiner, abused his authority to allow the payment of more than $920,000 in fraudulent
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims. Rose exploited his position to release payment on the
claims in exchange for kickbacks from his co-conspirators. We will continue to work with our law
enforcement and state partners to investigate those who exploit the unemployment insurance
system, “stated Special Agent-in-Charge Irene Lindow, Chicago Region, U.S. Department of Labor,
Office of Inspector General.

According to court documents, Rose was working as a lead claims examiner for the MUIA in April
2020, and as such, had electronic access to the MUIA claims database. Rose could use his credentials
to access and approve specific UI claims submitted to the agency.

Court documents indicate that beginning in approximately April 2020, Rose entered into an
agreement with various individuals to defraud the MUIA by obtaining UI benefits through the
submission of false UI claims. Rose’s co-conspirators would electronically submit fraudulent claims
to MUIA in the names of various individuals, some of whom would be victims of identity theft and
some of whom were entirely fictitious people. These co-conspirators made false statements in the
applications attesting to the eligibility of these purported claimants, and would upload fictitious
documentation to support those fraudulent claims. The co-conspirators would then communicate
with Rose, either directly or through intermediaries, and identify the claims that they had
submitted. Rose would then use his insider access to the MUIA system to approve the claims and
release benefits. Most of the time, benefits would be electronically loaded onto Bank of America debit
cards and mailed to addresses controlled by Rose’s co-conspirators. Rose was often paid for his
services, typically in amounts between $50 and $150 per claim he touched.
While some of the individuals who approached Rose had legitimate UI claims and worked with him
solely to receive benefits on an accelerated schedule, many of the individuals with whom Rose
conspired submitted fraudulent UI claims in bulk. In his plea agreement, Rose acknowledged that he
was well aware that many of the claims that he authorized were fraudulent.

Court documents indicate that while it is difficult to provide precise loss figures associated with
Rose’s criminal scheme, a conservative estimate of the actual loss in this case is approximately
$1,011,000.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John K. Neal and Alyse Wu. The
investigation is being conducted jointly by the Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General and
the Secret Service, with substantial assistance from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.
Topic(s):                                               Component(s):
Coronavirus                                             USAO - Michigan, Eastern


File and source

File

2022-07-26-Former-Claims-Manager-for-Michigan-Unemployment-Insurance-Agency-Sentenced-In-COVID-19-Fraud-Scheme.pdf

Size

87,704 bytes

SHA-256

d38776e68fe5fc2aca80ff117de590b8219eda37a7a74098d882269d8964abb1

Our copy

2022-07-26-Former-Claims-Manager-for-Michigan-Unemployment-Insurance-Agency-Sentenced-In-COVID-19-Fraud-Scheme.pdf

Original

No public link identified.