New York Siblings Charged with Conspiracy, Money Laundering, Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Aggravated Identity Theft (November 21, 2025)
Summary
Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania, dated November 21, 2025. Mayovanet Fermin and Frnsheska Fermin of Yonkers, New York were indicted on August 19, 2025 by a federal grand jury on 68 counts, including conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. The case was unsealed after their arraignment on October 3, 2025. The indictment alleges that from January of 2020 through July of 2021 they obtained and shared lists of victims' personal identifying information to create fraudulent federal income tax returns, economic impact payment applications and pandemic unemployment assistance benefits, resulting in over $400,000 in fraudulently obtained payments.
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“New York Siblings Charged with Conspiracy, Money Laundering, Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Aggravated Identity Theft (November 21, 2025).”
Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-12-01-new-york-siblings-charged-with-conspiracy-money-laundering-0a1a0609af/
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PRESS RELEASE
New York Siblings Charged with Conspiracy, Money Laundering,
Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Aggravated Identity Theft
Friday, November 21, 2025
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Pennsylvania
SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
announced that Mayovanet Fermin, age 26, and Frnsheska Fermin, age 25, of Yonkers,
New York, were indicted on August 19, 2025, by a federal grand jury on 68 counts of
fraud, including conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims,
conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and
aggravated identity theft. The case was unsealed following defendants’ arraignment on
October 3, 2025.
According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, the indictment alleges that from
January of 2020 through July of 2021, the Fermins obtained and shared lists of victims’
personal identifying information (PII) to create and submit fraudulent federal income tax
returns, economic impact payment applications, and pandemic unemployment
assistance benefits. The indictment alleges over $400,000 in fraudulently obtained
payments as a result of the scheme.
The case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI),
the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), the Social Security
Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), and the United States Postal
Inspection Service (USPIS). Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Lloyd is prosecuting the
case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement
Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with
agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-
related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most
culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting
and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and
techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing
information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information
on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit
https://www.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:
https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
The maximum penalty under federal law for the most serious offense charged is 30
years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.
A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of
the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are
presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.
This matter occurred on date indicated but not issued at that time due to the government
shutdown. Press release posted and made available following the return to normal
operations.
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Updated November 21, 2025
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