U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Haverhill Man Arrested and Charged With Filing Fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Claim (USAO D-MA 03/28/2024) (2024-04-03)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, dated Thursday, March 28, 2024, announcing that Julio Roncaly Morais, 41, of Haverhill, was arrested and charged by complaint with mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. According to the charging document, Julio Morais filed a Massachusetts Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claim on June 3, 2020, on behalf of Chelbe Willams Moraes, who was living in Brazil when the claim was filed. The complaint alleges that Julio Morais certified under penalty of perjury that Chelbe Moraes was a Massachusetts resident able and available to work. The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance paid a total of $5,202 before suspending payments, and the release states that Chelbe Moraes is charged in a separate case.

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


Haverhill Man Arrested and Charged With Filing
Fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Claim
Thursday, March 28, 2024

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts


Claim allegedly filed for an alleged migrant smuggler who resides
in Brazil

BOSTON – A Haverhill man was arrested and charged today in connection with a
Massachusetts Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claim he filed in 2020 for a
man who was living in Brazil and who has since been charged with migrant smuggling,
among other offenses.

Julio Roncaly Morais, 41, was charged by complaint with mail fraud, wire fraud, and
conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The defendant was arrested this morning and
will appear in federal court at 2:30 p.m. today.

According to the charging document, Julio Morais filed a Massachusetts PUA claim on
June 3, 2020, on behalf of Chelbe Willams Moraes, who was living in Brazil when the
PUA claim was filed. In the PUA application, Julio Morais allegedly certified under
penalty of perjury that Chelbe Moraes was a current resident of Massachusetts and was
able and available to work in Massachusetts but was unable to due to the pandemic. As
a result of this alleged claim, the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment
Assistance paid a total of $5,202 in benefits before suspending payments due to an
inability to reach Chelbe Moraes.

Chelbe Moraes is currently charged in a separate case in the District of Massachusetts
for alleged forced labor conspiracy, encouraging and inducing an alien to come to, enter
and remain in the United States for the purpose of commercial advantage or private
financial gain, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry,
and residence is or will be in violation of law and conspiring to do so; money laundering
conspiracy and money laundering.
The charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy provide for a sentence of up to 20
years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.
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.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in charge for
the Homeland Security Investigations New England Field Office; Jonathan Mellone,
Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General; and
Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal
Investigations in Boston. Valuable assistance was provided by the Woburn and Norwood
Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly Begg Lawrence, James D. Herbert,
and Samuel R. Feldman of the Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court
of law.


File and source

File

2024-04-03-Haverhill-Man-Arrested-and-Charged-With-Filing-Fraudulent-Pandemic-Unemployment-Assistance-Claim-US.pdf

Size

86,851 bytes

SHA-256

69fc4a44ac993d8645d8e296b127365ffeb85a8d8226d47d192dd3d2fe449368

Our copy

2024-04-03-Haverhill-Man-Arrested-and-Charged-With-Filing-Fraudulent-Pandemic-Unemployment-Assistance-Claim-US.pdf

Original

www.oig.dol.gov