Albany Man Arraigned on Pandemic-Related Fraud Charges (August 10, 2022)

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, dated August 10, 2022, announcing that Ibrahim K. Boyd, 32, of Albany, appeared on an indictment alleging fraudulent schemes to obtain pandemic-related government benefits and small business funds. The indictment alleges that Boyd submitted a false unemployment insurance application to the New York State Department of Labor using another person's information and obtained more than $16,000 in benefits. It also alleges that Boyd made up two fake businesses to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan and Small Business Administration disaster-related funding totaling in excess of $28,000. The indictment, returned on July 28, 2022, alleges mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft offenses, and Boyd was ordered released pending trial.

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                                     Department of Justice

                                     U.S. Attorney’s Office

                                 Northern District of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               Wednesday, August 10, 2022

            Albany Man Arraigned on Pandemic-Related
                        Fraud Charges
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Ibrahim K. Boyd, age 32, of Albany, appeared today on an
indictment alleging he engaged in fraudulent schemes to obtain government benefits and other
funds intended to help out-of-work New Yorkers and struggling small businesses during the
COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; New York State
Inspector General Lucy Lang; Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo
Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge
of the Boston Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); and Jonathan
Mellone, Special Agent in Charge, New York Region, United States Department of Labor,
Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG).

The indictment alleges that Boyd submitted a false unemployment insurance application using
the personal information of another person to the New York State Department of Labor
(NYSDOL) and obtained more than $16,000 in benefits for his personal gain. Additionally, Boyd
allegedly made up two fake businesses to obtain a Paycheck Protection Program loan and U.S.
Small Business Administration disaster-related funding, totaling in excess of $28,000. The
charges in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.

Boyd was arraigned today before United States Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Stewart and ordered
released pending trial.

The indictment, returned by a grand jury on July 28, 2022, alleges mail fraud, wire fraud, and
aggravated identity theft offenses. The mail fraud and wire fraud charges each carry maximum
terms of 20 years in prison, fines of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3
years. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory term of 2 years in prison, to be
imposed consecutive to any other term of imprisonment. 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.

The case is being investigated by the New York State Inspector General’s Office, HSI, USPIS,
and USDOL-OIG, with assistance from the NYSDOL Office of Special Investigations. The case
is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney 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):
Coronavirus
Financial Fraud
Identity Theft

Component(s):
USAO - New York, Northern
                                                                  Updated August 10, 2022


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