U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Colonie Man Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Insurance Fraud (USAO ND-NY 02/29/2024) (2024-03-01)

Summary

A February 29, 2024 press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York announcing that Rocco Resciniti, of Colonie, New York, pled guilty to conspiring to defraud the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) by obtaining unemployment insurance benefits under another person's name. Resciniti admitted providing Carl J. DiVeglia III with the personal identifying information of three individuals, which DiVeglia used to file false claims, and that NYSDOL paid $69,718 as a result; the plea agreement provides for $69,718 in restitution. The release states DiVeglia previously pled guilty to obtaining $1.6 million in benefits, charges against Todd Ward and Jamaine Myers are pending, and Christopher Ward has pled guilty. Sentencing before United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby is set for July 18, 2024.

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Full text

PRESS RELEASE



Colonie Man Pleads Guilty to
Unemployment Insurance Fraud
Thursday, February 29, 2024

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York


Conviction Stems from False Claims Filed by Corrupt State
Employee

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Rocco Resciniti, a/k/a “Rock,” age 50, of Colonie, New York, pled
guilty today to conspiring to defraud the New York State Department of Labor
(NYSDOL) by obtaining unemployment insurance benefits under the name of another
person, including benefits funded by the federal government in response to the COVID-
19 pandemic.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Craig L.
Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI); and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge, North East Region,
U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG).

Resciniti admitted that he provided Carl J. DiVeglia III with the personal identifying
information of three individuals, which DiVeglia used to file false claims via the NYSDOL
website. Resciniti further admitted that as a result of the fraudulent applications
submitted by DiVeglia, the NYSDOL paid $69,718 in unemployment insurance
benefits. As part of his plea agreement, Resciniti agreed to pay $69,718 in restitution to
the State of New York. DiVeglia previously pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining $1.6
million in unemployment insurance benefits as part of the scheme. Charges against two
of Resciniti’s three co-defendants, Todd Ward and Jamaine Myers, are still pending; the
charges against them are merely allegations, and they are presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty. The third co-defendant, Christopher Ward, pled guilty earlier
this month.
Resciniti faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of
supervised release of up to 3 years when he is sentenced on July 18, 2024 by United
States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby.

The FBI and USDOL-OIG are investigating this case, with assistance from the NYSDOL
Office of Special Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph S. Hartunian and Joshua
R. Rosenthal are 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.

Updated February 29, 2024

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD
Component
USAO - New York, Northern


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