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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Le Mars Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for COVID-19 Related Unemployment Fraud (USAO ND-IA 01/21/2021) (2021-02-02)

Summary

Press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Iowa, dated January 21, 2021, announcing that Dennis George Chinn of Le Mars, Iowa, was sentenced on January 19, 2021, to 3 months in federal prison after a September 25, 2020 guilty plea to theft of government funds. In a plea agreement, Chinn admitted falsely reporting his income as $150 per week to get an additional $600 weekly payment, and obtaining over $13,000 in CARES Act Iowa unemployment funds. Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand also ordered $12,231.00 in restitution and a 2-year term of supervised release. The release gives the case file number as 20-4082.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Le Mars Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for COVID-19 Related Unemployment Fraud (USAO ND-IA 01/21/2021) (2021-02-02).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-le-mars-man-sentenced-to-federal-prison-fo-9356974f68/, SHA-256 27803a40f1ecd70733419f9582bba51e65698f8bca4ba2be5be7684e3a4ca122.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice
                                       U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                      Northern District of Iowa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       Thursday, January 21, 2021

    Le Mars Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for COVID-19
               Related Unemployment Fraud
 Chinn falsely underreported his income to receive COVID-19 unemployment
                                   funds.
A Le Mars, Iowa man who stole government funds using a COVID-19 unemployment scheme was
sentenced January 19, 2021, to 3 months in federal prison.

Dennis George Chinn, age 55, from Le Mars, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 25,
2020 guilty plea to theft of government funds.

In a plea agreement, Chinn admitted to falsely reporting his income, stating it was $150 per week, so
he could get an additional $600 weekly payment, and to fraudulently obtaining unemployment
benefits related to COVID-19 relief funds to which he was not entitled. In total, Chinn obtained over
$13,000 in COVID-19 pandemic CARES Act Iowa unemployment funds.

Chinn was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T.
Strand. Chinn was sentenced to 3 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to pay $12,231.00 in
restitution. He must also serve a 2-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no
parole in the federal system.

Chinn is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal
prison.

The case was prosecuted by United States Attorney Ron Timmons and was investigated by the
United States Department of Labor and the Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.

Rooting out COVID-19 fraud is a priority of the Department of Justice. On March 27, 2020, the
President signed the CARES Act, which provides emergency assistance to individuals, families, and
businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including increased unemployment benefits.

These prosecutions are an example of the Department of Justice’s strong commitment to combating
fraud and criminal activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web
Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 20-4082.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.
Topic(s):                                              Component(s):
Coronavirus                                            USAO - Iowa, Northern
Financial Fraud

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File
2021-02-02-Le-Mars-Man-Sentenced-to-Federal-Prison-for-COVID-19-Related-Unemployment-Fraud-USAO-ND-IA-01-21-20.pdf
Size
265,931 bytes
SHA-256
27803a40f1ecd70733419f9582bba51e65698f8bca4ba2be5be7684e3a4ca122
Our copy
2021-02-02-Le-Mars-Man-Sentenced-to-Federal-Prison-for-COVID-19-Related-Unemployment-Fraud-USAO-ND-IA-01-21-20.pdf
Original
www.oig.dol.gov
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