Man Pleads Guilty to Cares Act Unemployment Insurance Fraud

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated July 23, 2025. Zakria Hussain of Prince George's County pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft over fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance claims submitted to the Maryland Department of Labor. According to the plea agreement, from at least March 2021 until about August 2022 the defendants fraudulently obtained more than $3.5 million in benefits, and co-conspirators employed by a company that supported the agency gave access to its databases. Hussain personally participated in claims with losses exceeding $550,000 but less than $1.5 million. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a mandatory two years for aggravated identity theft; sentencing is set for December 19.

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PRESS RELEASE


Prince Georgeʼs Man Pleads Guilty to
Cares Act Unemployment Insurance Fraud
Wednesday, July 23, 2025

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


Greenbelt, Maryland –Zakria Hussain, 28, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, has
pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, relating
to the submission of fraudulent CARES Act unemployment insurance (UI) claims.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with
Special Agent in Charge Troy W. Springer, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of
Labor – Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), and Acting Special Agent in Charge
Amanda M. Koldjeski, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office.

According to the plea agreement, beginning in at least March 2021, and continuing until
about August 2022, Hussain and his co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to defraud
the United States, the State of Maryland, multiple financial institutions, and multiple
individuals, including at least six identity theft victims. The co-conspirators submitted
false and fraudulent UI benefits claims to the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL),
Maryland’s agency that is responsible for processing the claims. As part of the
conspiracy, the defendants fraudulently obtained more than $3.5 million in
unemployment insurance benefits. Hussain personally participated in UI claims resulting
in losses exceeding $550,000, but less than $1.5 million, and he used debit cards issued
in the names of aggravated identity theft victims to obtain UI fraud funds.

Company 1, which provided professional support services to the MD-DOL to review UI
claims and administer UI benefits, employed co-conspirators Bryan Nushawn Ruffin, 27,
of Woodbridge, Virginia, and Kiara Smith, 27, of Fort Washington, Maryland. As detailed
in the plea agreement, Hussain and his co-conspirators possessed and used computers
that Company 1 issued to Ruffin and Smith to access non-public UI data and databases
maintained by the MD-DOL. Ruffin and Smith then granted Hussain and his co-
conspirators access to MD-DOL databases which they used to change information on
existing UI claims.
This included the contact email address, online account password, and payment method
for existing UI claims. The co-conspirators furthered the scheme by using the identity
theft victims’ personal identifying information (PII). They also used their access to the
MD-DOL databases to upload and approve documents submitted in support of
fraudulent UI claims, remove fraud holds on UI claims, certify weeks for determining UI
benefits, and engage in other actions to facilitate the fraudulent UI benefits
payments. During the scheme, the MD-DOL believed they were disbursing UI benefits
to debit cards/accounts of UI applicants, but the accounts were allegedly opened and
controlled by Hussain and his co-conspirators.

Hussain faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud
conspiracy and a mandatory sentence of two years, consecutive to any other imposed
sentence, for aggravated identity theft. Co-Defendants Ruffin, Smith, and Ahmed
Hussain, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, aka “Oso,” already pled guilty and are awaiting
sentencing. Co-Defendants Lawrence Nathanial Harris, 31, of Temple Hills, Maryland, aka
“Manman” and “Biggbank,” and Terry Chen, 25, of Bowie, Maryland, aka “Mike
Livingston” and “2Trunt Up” are awaiting trial.

Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A
federal district court judge determines sentencing after considering the U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines and other statutory factors. Zakria Hussain’s sentencing is currently set for
December 19, at 10 a.m.

The District of Maryland COVID-19 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, including fraud relating to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act was designed to provide emergency
financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-
19 pandemic. 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.

For more information about the Department’s response to the pandemic,
visit 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 justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the DOL-OIG and the FBI for their work in the
investigation and the MD-DOL for its assistance. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Harry M. Gruber, Paul A. Riley, and Joseph L. Wenner, who are prosecuting the
case, and recognized the Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force and Paralegal Specialist
Joanna B.N. Huber for their valuable assistance.

For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and
resources available to report fraud, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-
md/community-outreach.

                                          ###

Contact
Kevin Nash
USAMD.Press@usdoj.gov
410-209-4946

Updated July 23, 2025


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