New York Man Indicted for Stealing COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits (Press Release, January 11, 2024)

Summary

A press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, dated Thursday, January 11, 2024, announcing that Jose Tavares of the Bronx was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud over COVID-19 unemployment benefits. It states that alleged conspirators Yanira Abreu and Christopher Valerio have each previously pleaded guilty in the same scheme. According to documents filed and statements made in court, from July 2020 through February 2021 Tavares and others submitted false applications to the New York Department of Labor through fictitious online profiles built with other people's personal information, and obtained debit cards with funds totaling $444,738. The release states that the charge and allegations are merely accusations.

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PRESS RELEASE



New York Man Indicted for Stealing
COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits
Thursday, January 11, 2024


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

NEWARK N.J. – A New York man was indicted today for conspiring to illegally obtain
over $444,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger
announced.

Jose Tavares, 35, of Bronx New York, is charged by indictment with one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Tavares’ alleged conspirators, Yanira Abreu, 42, of
Keasby, New Jersey, and Christopher Valerio, 33, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, have each
previously pleaded guilty in the same scheme.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From July 2020 through February 2021, Tavares, Valerio, Abreu and others submitted
false and fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance benefits to the New York
Department of Labor (NYDOL) through fictitious online profiles that they created using
personally identifiable information, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security
numbers, of other individuals without their consent. Once the NYDOL processed and
approved the fraudulent applications, Tavares and his conspirators obtained debit cards
with illegally obtained funds totaling $444,738, which they used for personal gain.

The wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum
fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain to the defendant or gross loss to the victim,
whichever is greatest.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations
Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso; special
agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region,
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, and postal inspectors
of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge
Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation leading to today’s
indictment.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fatime Meka Cano of the
Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike
forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-
state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational
actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led
and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole
pandemic relief funds.

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
Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form
at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

The charge and allegations in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant
is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.



tavares.indictment.pdf
Updated January 11, 2024

Topic
CORONAVIRUS


Component
USAO - New Jersey
Press Release Number: 24-015


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