U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Haverhill Man Indicted for Allegedly Filing Fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Claim for Brazilian Resident (USAO D-MA 06/20/2024) (2024-06-25)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, dated Thursday, June 20, 2024, announcing that Julio Roncaly Morais, 41, of Haverhill, was indicted on one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the charging documents, Morais filed a Massachusetts Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claim on June 3, 2020, on behalf of a co-conspirator who was living in Brazil before and after the claim was filed. The indictment alleges that Morais certified under penalty of perjury that the co-conspirator was a Massachusetts resident able and available to work. The release states that the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance paid a total of $5,202 in benefits before suspending payments, and that each charge provides for up to 20 years in prison.

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PRESS RELEASE



Haverhill Man Indicted for
Allegedly Filing Fraudulent
Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance Claim for Brazilian
Resident
Thursday, June 20, 2024

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

BOSTON – A Haverhill man was indicted today for allegedly filing a Massachusetts
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claim in 2020 for a man who was living in
Brazil at the time, and therefore ineligible to receive PUA benefits.

Julio Roncaly Morais, 41, was charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later
date.

According to the charging documents, Morais filed a Massachusetts PUA claim on June
3, 2020, on behalf of a co-conspirator who was living in Brazil before and after the PUA
claim was filed. In the PUA application, Morais allegedly certified under penalty of
perjury that the co-conspirator was a 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 claim, the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance paid a total
of $5,202 in benefits before suspending payments due to an inability to reach the co-
conspirator.

The charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud each provide for a
sentence of up to 20 years in prison, 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 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 made the announcement today. Assistance in the investigation
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.

Updated June 20, 2024

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

FINANCIAL FRAUD


Component
USAO - Massachusetts


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