Pittsburgh Resident Pleads Guilty to Violating Federal Fraud Laws (Press Release, December 5, 2023)

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, dated Tuesday, December 5, 2023, announcing that Corey Mizell pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer to four counts of embezzlement by an officer or employee of the United States and one count of mail fraud. The court was advised that Mizell, an agent cashier at the H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, took cash from veterans' patient accounts, and in a written confession estimated the total embezzled as $17,660. A Department of Labor inquiry found that Mizell falsely certified eligibility for pandemic unemployment benefits and collected $38,400 from April 2020 until September 2021. Sentencing is scheduled for March 18, 2024.

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PRESS RELEASE



Pittsburgh Resident Pleads Guilty
to Violating Federal Fraud Laws
Tuesday, December 5, 2023


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

PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in federal court
to charges of violating federal fraud laws, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan
announced today.

Corey Mizell, age 51, formerly of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to four-counts
of embezzlement by an officer or employee of the United States and one-count of mail
fraud before United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that in April 2020, Corey Mizell
began working as an agent cashier at the H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans
Affairs Medical Center. In that capacity, patients would bring him veteran benefit checks
to be deposited into their patient accounts. When the veterans wanted to withdraw cash
from their patient accounts, they would physically appear before Mizell at his teller
window to request a withdrawal. To effectuate the transaction, Mizell would call a
disbursing officer, who would confirm for Mizell that the veteran had an account and
provide him a transaction number. Mizell would then complete a Patient Funds Form to
document the withdrawal and hand the patient the requested cash.

In January 2021, the sister of a deceased veteran called the VA Police after reviewing the
balance in her brother’s patient account. According to the sister, her brother was
essentially bedridden due to his disability and the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, he
could not spend the amount of cash withdrawn from his account. Subsequently, the VA
Police opened an investigation into the account activity and questioned the teller who
conducted each withdrawal – Mizell.

Mizell initially informed the VA Police that someone must have misrepresented their
identity to him in order to fraudulently obtain the funds. Mizell also opined that he was
an easy target for such a scheme since he recently became an agent cashier. The
investigation revealed that Mizell would call for authorization to withdraw funds from
patients who were either on COVID lockdown or who could not leave their room
without an escort due to their disabilities. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,
Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG), confronted Mizell after driving by his residence to
find a remodel of the backyard and exterior of his home.

Subsequently, Mizell participated in an interview with the VA-OIG. He provided a written
confession in which he admitted to “fraudulently taking money . . . from accounts of
veterans.” He attributed his conduct to losing income during the pandemic and unpaid
bills. Mizell identified taking money from three veterans. He estimated the total amount
embezzled as $17,660. Mizell resigned from the VA on April 20, 2021.

Following Mizell’s resignation, one veteran reported that he noticed over $1,000 missing
from his patient account. Law enforcement determined that $1,175 in cash withdrawals
occurred from that veteran’s account between November 2020 and January 2021. While
Mizell did not identify this person in his written statement, the evidence supports that
Mizell embezzled from that account as well. For each withdrawal, Mizell was the cashier,
and he withdrew money from that account on four occasions when he embezzled
money from other patients accounts. In addition, the VA-OIG determined that the
amount of cash deposited by Mizell into his bank account was consistent with the total
amount embezzled.

As part of the VA’s investigation, a digital forensic examination was completed on
Mizell’s VA computer. The examination revealed that Mizell, on numerous occasions,
visited an unemployment compensation website maintained by the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. As a result, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector
General, conducted a separate investigation into Mizell related to filing for Pandemic
Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation
(FPUC).

Individuals are only eligible for these pandemic benefits if they are unemployed for
reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic and are available to work. Therefore,
individuals must certify on an electronic application that they are unemployed due to
the pandemic and are available to accept work. After submission, the application is
transmitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor for review. If approved for
pandemic benefits, individuals are notified of the amount they will receive. In addition to
the initial application, and in order to continue receiving pandemic benefits, individuals
must certify on a weekly basis that they are still eligible to receive benefits. Of note,
individuals are able to certify that they were unemployed for prior weeks in the
pandemic and receive benefits for those weeks. The government transported the
resulting payment of benefits in the form of checks and debit cards via the mail.
The Department of Labor’s investigation into Mizell revealed that he filed an electronic
application for pandemic benefits on April 24, 2020. Despite working for the VA since
2016, Mizell falsified that he was not a federal employee on a VA computer using the VA
medical center’s IP address. Beginning in May 2020, Mizell falsified that he was not
working fulltime. During that time, he was working fulltime as an agent cashier. In April
2021, Mizell resigned from the VA. Nevertheless, in his weekly unemployment
certifications, he represented that he was unemployed due to the pandemic. These
falsifications allowed Mizell to collect pandemic benefits.

Mizell collected a total of $38,400 in unemployment pandemic benefits from April 2020
until September 2021. He initially received checks, but pandemic benefits were then
disbursed via a debit card, which was reloaded with additional money by the
government following Mizell’s weekly certifications. On June 5, 2020, the United States
Postal Service transported the debit card in Mizell’s name to an address associated with
him in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Judge Fischer scheduled sentencing for March 18, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. The law provides
for a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both. Under
the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the
seriousness of the offenses and the prior criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Pending sentencing, the court continued Mizell on bond.

Assistant United States Attorney Brendan J. McKenna is prosecuting this case on behalf
of the government.

The Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General and Department of Veterans
Affairs – Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation that led to the
prosecution of Mizell.

Updated December 5, 2023

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD

HEALTH CARE FRAUD
Component
USAO - Pennsylvania, Western


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