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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Boston Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Unemployment Fraud Related to COVID-19 Pandemic (USAO D-MA 10/14/2022) (2022-10-25)

Summary

An October 14, 2022 press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announcing that Wilson Radhames Peguero Brea pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the charging documents, Peguero used the name and Social Security number of a U.S. citizen to apply for and obtain Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits, and also received PUA benefits using another victim's identity. The release puts the benefits obtained at over $65,000. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman is prosecuting.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Boston Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Unemployment Fraud Related to COVID-19 Pandemic (USAO D-MA 10/14/2022) (2022-10-25).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-boston-man-pleads-guilty-to-identity-theft-e586a20c37/, SHA-256 106a3355ec5a745e92dfb3b5a8c5aa20d1c6876cd4b8ef73ba84376b7352f36e.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice
                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                      District of Massachusetts


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       Friday, October 14, 2022

       Boston Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and
     Unemployment Fraud Related to COVID-19 Pandemic
BOSTON – A Boston man pleaded guilty yesterday in connection with using others’ identities to
fraudulently obtain over $65,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits.

Wilson Radhames Peguero Brea, 53, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of
aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing
for Jan. 11, 2023. Peguero was arrested and charged in December 2021.

According to the charging documents, Peguero used the name and Social Security number of a U.S.
citizen to apply for and obtain PUA benefits. Peguero also applied for and received additional PUA
benefits using another victim’s identity as well as his own.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of
supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The
charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, to be
served consecutively to any other sentence imposed, up to one year of supervised release and a fine
of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing
Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of
Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement. Valuable assistance was
provided by the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security
Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Massachusetts State Police; and U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services in Boston. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin A. Saltzman of Rollins’ Criminal
Division is prosecuting the case.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security’s Investigation’s Document and Benefit
Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), a specialized field investigative group comprised of personnel from
various local, state, and federal agencies with expertise in detecting, deterring, and disrupting
organizations and individuals involved in various types of document, identity, and benefit fraud
schemes.

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.
Topic(s):                                            Component(s):
Coronavirus                                          USAO - Massachusetts

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