U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Middlesex County Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Stealing COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits (USAO D-NJ 04/30/2024) (2024-05-01)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey, dated April 30, 2024, announcing that Christopher Valerio, 33, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, was sentenced to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch. The release states that Valerio previously pleaded guilty to an information charging one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the release, from July 2020 through February 2021, Valerio, Abreu and others submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance applications to the New York Department of Labor through fictitious online profiles built with other individuals' personal information. Conspirator Yanira Abreu pleaded guilty on Sept. 12, 2023 and was scheduled for sentencing on May 9, 2024. The sentence includes two years of supervised release with restitution and forfeiture.

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



Middlesex County Man Sentenced
to 30 Months in Prison for Stealing
COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits
Tuesday, April 30, 2024


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

NEWARK N.J. – A Middlesex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 30
months in prison for conspiring to illegally obtain over $400,000 in COVID-19
unemployment benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Christopher Valerio, 33, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before
U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch to an information charging him with one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Judge Kirsch imposed the sentence today in Newark
federal court.

Valerio’s conspirator, Yanira Abreu of Keasby, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on Sept. 12,
2023, on charges stemming from the same scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced on
May 9, 2024. A third conspirator, Jose Tavares of New York, is charged by indictment
and his case remains pending.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From July 2020 through February 2021, Valerio, Abreu and others submitted false and
fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance benefits to the New York
Department of Labor (NYDOL) through fictitious online profiles that they created using
personally identifiable information, including names, dates of birth, and Social Security
numbers, of other individuals without their consent. Once the NYDOL processed and
approved the fraudulent applications, Valerio and his conspirators obtained debit cards
with illegally obtained funds totaling $444,738, which they used for personal gain.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Kirsch sentenced Valerio to two years of
supervised release and ordered restitution and forfeiture, each in the amount of
$444,728.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations
Newark, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker; special
agents of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region,
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Mellone, and postal inspectors
of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Newark, under the direction of Inspector in
Charge Christopher A. Nielsen, Philadelphia Division, with the investigation leading to
today’s sentencing.

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike
forces established throughout the United States by the U.S. Department of Justice to
investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-
state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational
actors. The strike forces are interagency law enforcement efforts, using prosecutor-led
and data analyst-driven teams designed to identify and bring to justice those who stole
pandemic relief funds.

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.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fatime Meka Cano of the
Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations against Tavares are merely accusations, and Taveras is
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Updated April 30, 2024

Topic
CORONAVIRUS


Component
USAO - New Jersey


Press Release Number: 24-157


File and source

File

2024-05-01-Middlesex-County-Man-Sentenced-to-30-Months-in-Prison-for-Stealing-COVID-19-Unemployment-Benefits-U.pdf

Size

507,639 bytes

SHA-256

36e54577a970e0866835dcea295b1617417c784822c5c8a333f66233ed4b002f

Our copy

2024-05-01-Middlesex-County-Man-Sentenced-to-30-Months-in-Prison-for-Stealing-COVID-19-Unemployment-Benefits-U.pdf

Original

www.oig.dol.gov