Corona Man Sentenced to Nearly 6 Years in Prison for Scheme that Fraudulently Obtained $2.1 Million

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, dated October 16, 2023, announcing that Robert Campbell Jr. of Corona was sentenced by United States District Judge Jesus G. Bernal to 68 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,113,966 in restitution. Campbell pleaded guilty on March 6 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of mail fraud, each in connection with a presidentially declared emergency. The release states that Campbell and co-conspirators used others' personally identifiable information to file unemployment insurance applications with the California Employment Development Department (EDD) claiming the claimants were salon and barbershop workers. It reports 174 fraudulent applications, 125 paid claims and losses of approximately $2,113,966, and quotes the government's sentencing memorandum.

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

PRESS RELEASE



Corona Man Sentenced to Nearly 6
Years in Prison for Scheme that
Fraudulently Obtained $2.1 Million
in COVID Jobless Benefits
Monday, October 16, 2023


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

RIVERSIDE, California – A Riverside County man was sentenced today to 68 months in
federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to obtain more than $2.1 million in pandemic-
related unemployment insurance (UI) benefits by filing fraudulent applications claiming,
among other things, that the claimants were salon and barbershop workers rendered
jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Campbell Jr., 30, of Corona, was sentenced by United States District Judge Jesus
G. Bernal, who also ordered him to pay $2,113,966 in restitution.

Campbell, this case’s lead defendant, pleaded guilty on March 6 to one count of
conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with a presidentially declared emergency
and one count of mail fraud in connection with benefits connected to a presidentially
declared emergency. He has been free on $100,000 bond since his July 2022 arrest in
this case.

From March 2020 to July 2021, Campbell and other co-conspirators used the personally
identifiable information (PII) of others – including names, dates of birth, and Social
Security numbers – to file fraudulent UI applications with the California Employment
Development Department (EDD), which administers the state’s unemployment insurance
program.

The fraudulent UI claims were federally funded through programs authorized by
Congress in response to the pandemic, including the Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance and Lost Wage Assistance programs.
Many of the fraudulent claims were made on behalf of ineligible out-of-state claimants
and on behalf of people ineligible for benefits because they were imprisoned, including
one claimant in Texas.

The fraudulent applications falsely stated the claimants had prior annual incomes of
$42,000 and they were self-employed individuals whose jobs were adversely impacted
when salons and barbershop closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The fraudulent
applications listed mailing addresses with locations chosen and controlled by Campbell
and his accomplices. Once the fraudulent applications were approved, debit cards were
mailed to those addresses.

In total, Campbell and others caused 174 fraudulent applications to be filed with EDD,
resulting in 125 fraudulent claims to be paid and resulting in total losses of
approximately $2,113,966.

Campbell is the eighth and final defendant to be sentenced in this case. The other seven
defendants pleaded guilty and Judge Bernal imposed previous sentences ranging from
probation and home confinement to 18 months in federal prison.

“While the nation struggled with unprecedented loss of life and social and economic
disruption, [Campbell] seized upon the dislocation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic
to defraud the public of more than $2.1 million,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing
memorandum. “[Campbell] organized, led, and encouraged his coconspirators
throughout, and mocked considerations of decency and honesty at every turn in his
communications with them.”

The United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the California
Employment Development Department Investigation Division are investigating this
matter. Homeland Security Investigations, the United States Postal Inspection Service,
the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Special Services Unit, and
the United States Secret Service provided substantial assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Adam P. Schleifer of the Major Frauds Section
prosecuted this case.

Anyone with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by
calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at (866)
720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-
fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Contact
Ciaran McEvoy
Public Information Officer
ciaran.mcevoy@usdoj.gov
(213) 894-4465

Updated October 16, 2023

Topic
CORONAVIRUS
Component
USAO - California, Central
Press Release Number: 23-221


File and source

File

2023-10-18-Corona-Man-Sentenced-to-Nearly-6-Years-in-Prison-for-Scheme-that-Fraudulently-Obtained-2-1-Million.pdf

Size

514,459 bytes

SHA-256

fdcc2ff8e0ef7e1ed5cc493c95384b14d073bb70057d46a810f33f483daf50ee

Our copy

2023-10-18-Corona-Man-Sentenced-to-Nearly-6-Years-in-Prison-for-Scheme-that-Fraudulently-Obtained-2-1-Million.pdf

Original

No public link identified.