Bloomington Woman Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison for $7.1 Million Fraud Scheme (Press Release)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, dated August 15, 2023, announcing that Tequisha Solomon was sentenced to 90 months in prison and three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $4.7 million in restitution. The release states, citing court documents, that Solomon sought unemployment benefits from states including Minnesota, California and Illinois where there was no lawful basis to receive them. The release states that Solomon submitted over 200 false and fraudulent applications for others, often for a fee of as much as $2,000. It reports that Solomon applied for $7,149,032 in pandemic-related funds and caused payouts of at least $4,708,191. Solomon pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on December 13, 2022, and was sentenced before Judge Eric C. Tostrud.

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“Bloomington Woman Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison for $7.1 Million Fraud Scheme (Press Release).” Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2023-08-17-bloomington-woman-sentenced-to-7-5-years-in-prison-for-7-1-0a57a8e6e7/, SHA-256 b78dd55e08623dcafded5dcbc95407fa8a90fa3375fe35c36392f89fb857ed75.

Full text

PRESS RELEASE

Bloomington Woman Sentenced to
7.5 Years in Prison for $7.1 Million
Fraud Scheme
Tuesday, August 15, 2023

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Bloomington woman was sentenced to 90 months in prison, three
years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $4.7 million in restitution for defrauding
federal pandemic programs, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, from June 2020 through January 2022, Tequisha
Solomon, 40, executed a scheme to fraudulently obtain pandemic assistance money
from various states, including Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic
Development (DEED) and California’s Employment Development Department (EDD).

As part of the fraud scheme, Solomon sought Unemployment benefits (UI) from states
where she had no lawful basis to receive them. For example, while Solomon resided in
Minnesota and Nevada, she falsely claimed to California’s EDD that she worked and
resided in Los Angeles, California. As a result, California’s EDD paid Solomon at least
$37,000 in periodic UI payments between approximately in 2020 and 2021, during which
time she actually resided in Minnesota or Nevada.

Solomon also unlawfully sought to obtain UI benefits from multiple states
simultaneously. For instance, in October 2020, Solomon fraudulently claimed UI benefits
from the Illinois Department of Employment Security when she was actually residing in
Minnesota and was already fraudulently receiving UI benefits from California’s EDD. In
March 2021, Solomon fraudulently applied for UI from Minnesota’s DEED, and
concealed her fraudulent receipt of UI benefits from California and Illinois.

In addition to fraudulently obtaining pandemic-related benefits for herself, Solomon
also assisted others to obtain pandemic-related funds in exchange for a fee, often as
much as $2,000. Solomon submitted over 200 false and fraudulent applications for UI
benefits on behalf of others.
In total, Solomon fraudulently applied for $7,149,032 in pandemic-related funds and
caused the United States and multiple state agencies to pay out at least $4,708,191 in
the form of fraudulent UI benefits and small business loan proceeds.

On December 13, 2022, Solomon pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. She was
sentenced today in U.S. District Court before Judge Eric C. Tostrud.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Department of
Labor-Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with assistance
from the St. Paul Police Department and the California Employment Development
Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew S. Ebert prosecuted the case.

Updated August 16, 2023

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD
Component
USAO - Minnesota

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File: 2023-08-17-Bloomington-Woman-Sentenced-to-7-5-Years-in-Prison-for-7-1-Million-Fraud-Scheme-USAO-D-MN-08-15-202.pdf
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Our copy: 2023-08-17-Bloomington-Woman-Sentenced-to-7-5-Years-in-Prison-for-7-1-Million-Fraud-Scheme-USAO-D-MN-08-15-202.pdf
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