U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Caregiver Pleads Guilty to Stealing Intellectually Disabled Clients’ Personal Information to get Nearly $90K in Unemployment Benefits (PA Attorney General 08/31/22) (2022-09-01)

Summary

An August 31, 2022 press release from the PA Office of Attorney General announcing that Nelson Fornah, a Delaware County caregiver who worked for a home healthcare company, pleaded guilty to Theft, Theft by Deception, ID Theft, and Dealing in Unlawful Proceeds. According to the release, beginning in June 2020 Fornah used the personal information of seven disabled clients to obtain $89,418.82 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds, verifying their information through ID.me video sessions. The release also states that Fornah, after a PUA denial, misstated employment status to receive more than $14,000 in standard PA unemployment compensation benefits. Sentencing is scheduled for November 7, 2022, and Senior Deputy Attorney General Megan Madaffari is prosecuting.

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Full text

PA OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL PRESS RELEASE

CASE UPDATE: CAREGIVER PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING INTELLECTUALLY
DISABLED CLIENTS’ PERSONAL INFORMATION TO GET NEARLY $90K IN
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

AUGUST 31, 2022 |

HARRISBURG—Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced today that a Delaware
County caregiver pleaded guilty to stealing the personal identifying information of
several intellectually disabled people in his care to fraudulently apply for and receive
thousands of dollars in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funding.

Nelson Fornah, who worked for a home healthcare company, was charged following a
grand jury investigation, for using the stolen and false information of seven disabled
clients in his care to obtain $89,418.82 PUA funds.

“This individual abused his position as a caregiver to take advantage of adults with
disabilities, while stealing thousands of dollars specified to assist Pennsylvanians who
were truly in need” said AG Shapiro. “My office continues to work to ensure people like
this defendant are held accountable when they undermine the public by breaking the
law and committing fraud.”

Beginning in June 2020, Fornah fraudulently obtained PUA funds by using clients’
personal information on applications. He is recorded verifying their information through
video ID.me sessions where the victims appear on screen, mostly in the background,
and Fornah is off camera speaking for the individuals and showing the required
identification information in front of the camera.

Fornah also fraudulently applied for and was denied PUA benefits using his own
information though records confirm he was fully employed prior to and through the
pandemic. Following this rejection by the PA L&I, he lied about his employment status
to apply for the standard PA unemployment compensation benefits and received more
than $14,000 as a result.

The Office of the Attorney General investigated this case with the assistance of the
United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the United States Postal
Service Office of Inspector General, and the United States Social Security
Administration Office of Inspector General.

Fornah entered a guilty plea to the charges of Theft, Theft by Deception, ID Theft, and
Dealing in Unlawful Proceeds. Sentencing is scheduled for November 7, 2022. The
case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Megan Madaffari.

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