Maryland Cousins Indicted on Tax Return and Cares Act Unemployment Insurance Fraud Charges

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Maryland, dated January 20, 2026. The office unsealed a superseding indictment charging three cousins, Daiwor Woah-Tee, Dekwii Woah-Tee and Laiworpaye Woah-Tee, with conspiracy to submit false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims in a tax-fraud scheme, seeking at least $3.5 million in refunds. Daiwor Woah-Tee and Dekwii Woah-Tee were also charged with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft arising from a scheme to obtain unemployment insurance (UI) benefits during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The release says the co-conspirators submitted UI applications to the Maryland Department of Labor on behalf of victims and sought UI benefits in excess of $550,000. Charges in the superseding indictment are allegations, not a finding of guilt.

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PRESS RELEASE


Maryland Cousins Indicted on Tax Return
and Cares Act Unemployment Insurance
Fraud Charges
Tuesday, January 20, 2026

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

Baltimore, Maryland – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland unsealed
a superseding indictment today, charging three cousins in connection with a tax-fraud
scheme.

Daiwor “Mark Brown” Woah-Tee, 52, of Belcamp, Maryland; Dekwii Woah-Tee, 47, of
Baltimore, Maryland; and Laiworpaye Woah-Tee, 49, of Nottingham, Maryland, are
charged with conspiracy to submit false, fictitious, and fraudulent claims. The
superseding indictment also charged Daiwor Woah-Tee and Dekwii Woah-Tee with wire
fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft stemming from a scheme to
fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance (UI) benefits during the COVID-19
Pandemic.

Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the indictment with
Special Agent in Charge Kareem Carter, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal
Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington D.C. Field Office; Special Agent in Charge Troy W.
Springer, National Capital Region, U.S. Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General
(DOL-OIG); and Joseph V. Cuffari Ph.D., Inspector General, Department of Homeland
Security (DHS-OIG).

Beginning in January 2018, and continuing until December 2024, Daiwor Woah-Tee,
Dekwii Woah-Tee, and Laiworpaye Woah-Tee knowingly and willfully conspired to
defraud the United States and the Department of the Treasury by filing fraudulent Form
1040s seeking tax refunds from the IRS through fictitious claims based on fraudulent
material representations. The co-conspirators identified and recruited individuals willing
to become customers of their tax return business and obtained tax documentation and
personal identifiable information from those individuals seeking tax return preparation
assistance.
Daiwor Woah-Tee used the information obtained from individuals to prepare tax filings
with the IRS. Then the co-conspirators filed or caused the filing of false tax returns,
which contained fabricated information regarding the taxpayer’s dependents, income,
education expenses, and eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The co-conspirators caused the IRS to deposit funds into bank accounts that they
controlled and then caused the IRS to deliver treasury checks to addresses they
controlled. As a result, the co-conspirators obtained tax refunds they were not entitled
to in connection with submitting tax returns in which they illegally sought at least $3.5
million in refunds.

Dekwii Woah-Tee and Daiwor Woah-Tee were also charged with wire fraud, wire fraud
conspiracy, and aggravated identity theft arising out of their scheme to unlawfully
obtain UI benefits during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The co-conspirators submitted UI
applications to the Maryland Department of Labor on behalf of victims, often without
the victim’s knowledge, falsely stating that the applicant was entitled to UI benefits. As
a result, the co-conspirators caused the Maryland Department of Labor to deposit UI
benefits into bank accounts that they controlled, allowing them to withdraw the funds
for their own personal use. The co-conspirators sought UI benefits in excess of
$550,000.

Charges in the superseding indictment are allegations, not a finding of guilt. Individuals
charged by indictment are presumed innocent until proven guilty at a later criminal
proceeding.

The District of Maryland 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 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.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the IRS-CI, DOL-OIG, and DHS-OIG for their work in
the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys John D’Amico and
Matthew Phelps who are prosecuting this federal case.

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 January 20, 2026


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