U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Former New Bedford Man Pleads Guilty to False Pandemic Unemployment Claims (USAO D-MA 07/23/2021) (2021-07-26)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, dated Friday, July 23, 2021, announcing that Arthur Pacheco, 47, previously of New Bedford, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to two counts of wire fraud arising from Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for November 18, 2021. Arthur Pacheco was arrested and charged in December 2020 with Tiffany Pacheco, described as the defendant's wife, who is scheduled to plead guilty on August 30, 2021. According to court documents, Tiffany Pacheco was hired by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) in April 2020 and allegedly misused that position to submit fraudulent PUA claim information.

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

Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Former New Bedford Man Pleads Guilty to False Pandemic Unemployment Claims (USAO D-MA 07/23/2021) (2021-07-26).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-former-new-bedford-man-pleads-guilty-to-fa-3fb2a6bf17/, SHA-256 2808daaa6a1b72da28f5ed056dd5bdc9f127e1903899f86406c0f4de4aea5bf3.

Full text

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, July 23, 2021

Former New Bedford Man Pleads Guilty to False Pandemic
Unemployment Claims
Defendant’s wife misused employment at DUA for the submission of
fraudulent claims
BOSTON – A former New Bedford man pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston yesterday to federal
wire fraud charges arising from claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds.

Arthur Pacheco, 47, previously of New Bedford, Mass., pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani scheduled sentencing for Nov. 18, 2021. Arthur Pacheco
was arrested and charged in December 2020 with his wife Tiffany Pacheco, who is scheduled to
plead guilty on Aug. 30, 2021.

According to court documents, Tiffany was hired by the Massachusetts Department of
Unemployment Assistance (DUA) in April 2020, shortly after her release from federal prison
following a conviction for aggravated identity theft. While employed by DUA, Tiffany allegedly
misused her position to submit fraudulent PUA claim information on behalf of herself and her
husband, Arthur, who was incarcerated in Texas until Sept. 4, 2020, and thus ineligible for PUA
funds.

After Arthur was released from custody, he placed three calls to DUA regarding an appeal of his
claim for PUA benefits. Arthur conveyed false information about the timing of his incarceration,
including stating during one call that he had only been incarcerated for about one month. In
addition, Arthur referenced an employment letter that he could provide to substantiate his
unemployment claim. DUA then received a supposed letter from a Massachusetts retailer, indicating
that the retailer withdrew a January 2020 job offer due to COVID-19. In fact, the letter was a forgery,
and this retailer did not extend any job offer to Arthur in January 2020, at which time he was
incarcerated in Texas.

The charges of wire fraud provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of
supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court
judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge
of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Nikitas Splagounias, Acting Special Agent in
Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Labor Racketeering and Fraud
Investigation made the announcement. The New Bedford Police Department, Massachusetts Parole
Board and Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance, Program Integrity Unit
provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bill Abely and Dustin
Chao of Mendell’s Criminal Division 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.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The remaining defendant is
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Topic(s): Component(s):
Coronavirus USAO - Massachusetts

File and source

File: 2021-07-26-Former-New-Bedford-Man-Pleads-Guilty-to-False-Pandemic-Unemployment-Claims-USAO-D-MA-07-23-2021.pdf
Size: 109,159 bytes
SHA-256: 2808daaa6a1b72da28f5ed056dd5bdc9f127e1903899f86406c0f4de4aea5bf3
Our copy: 2021-07-26-Former-New-Bedford-Man-Pleads-Guilty-to-False-Pandemic-Unemployment-Claims-USAO-D-MA-07-23-2021.pdf
Original: www.oig.dol.gov