Two Postal Employees Charged with Fraud in Conection with Unemployment Insurance Benefits
Summary
Two U.S. Postal Service employees, Khaori Monroe, 28, of Newark, and Ross Clayton, 30, of Irvington, New Jersey, were arrested on September 1, 2021 and each charged by complaint with one count of wire fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig of the District of New Jersey announced. According to the complaints, each took unemployment-benefit mail, including debit cards, from a U.S. Postal Service location in New Jersey and used it to obtain unemployment insurance benefits to which they were not entitled. The release describes the CARES Act programs involved, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and an additional $600 weekly federal benefit. Wire fraud carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the charges are accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
Press Release Two Postal Employees Charged with Fraud in Conection with Unemployment Insurance Benefits Wednesday, September 1, 2021 For Immediate Release U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey NEWARK, N.J. -- Two New Jersey postal employees were arrested today for their alleged roles in a fraud committed in connection with unemployment insurance benefits, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced. Khaori Monroe, 28, of Newark, and Ross Clayton, 30, of Irvington, New Jersey, are each charged by complaint with one count of wire fraud. They are scheduled to appear by videoconference today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre. According to the complaints: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law. The CARES Act created a new temporary federal unemployment insurance program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) for individuals who are not eligible for other types of unemployment (e.g., self-employed, independent contractors, and gig economy workers). The CARES Act also created a new temporary federal program called Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance that provides an additional $600 weekly benefit to those eligible for PUA and regular UIB. Unemployment Insurance (UI) is a state-federal program that provides unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) to eligible workers. Monroe and Clayton were U.S. Postal Service employees. Monroe and Clayton each took UIB-related mail, including debit cards, from a U.S. Postal Service location in New Jersey and used that mail to obtain unemployment insurance benefits to which they were not entitled. The charge of wire fraud is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross profits or gross loss, whichever is greatest. Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael C. Mikulka in Manhattan; postal inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Rodney M. Hopkins in Newark; and special agents of the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, Northeast Area Field Office, with the investigation leading to today’s arrests. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Cybercrime Unit in Newark. The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Updated September 1, 2021 Topics COVID-Related Fraud Financial Fraud Component USAO - New Jersey Press Release Number: 21-391 Related Content Press Release Two TD Bank Insiders Sentenced for Facilitating Money Laundering, Fraud A New York-based former employee of TD Bank, N.A. was sentenced today to 46 months in prison for facilitating a money laundering network’s movement of millions of dollars through TD... July 16, 2026 Press Release Former Postal Worker and Two Philadelphia Men Admit to Conspiring to Commit Bank Fraud; Mount Laurel Man and Woman Sentenced to Prison for Their Roles in Same Conspiracy U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced that: (i) a former U.S. Postal Service employee admitted to stealing checks from the U.S. mail and selling them to others; (ii) a Philadelphia man... July 16, 2026 Press Release Two More Members of Drug Trafficking Organization Sentenced to Prison for Fentanyl Analogue Distribution and Money Laundering Conspiracies Two New Jersey men were sentenced this week for their roles in a drug trafficking organization that imported fentanyl analogues from China and distributed them in pill form throughout Northern... July 9, 2026
File and source
- File
- doj-doj-press-release-two-postal-employees-charged-fraud-conection-unemployment-insurance-2021-09-01.html
- Size
- 95,256 bytes
- SHA-256
- c600b37d96629f89e673d4fa5e507ae8be20bcd1f39c25da47b32208017f44d8
- Original
- www.justice.gov