U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Philadelphia Woman Charged With Money Laundering and Stealing Federal Funds in Scheme Directed by Online-Dating Paramour (USAO ED-PA 01/14/2022) (2022-01-20)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, dated January 14, 2022, announcing that Myrna Ortiz, 43, of Philadelphia, was charged in a 32-count Indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 31 counts of theft of government funds. According to the Indictment, Ortiz met an individual through the dating website Match.com and helped that person run a scheme filing fraudulent Social Security Administration Retirement benefit claims in the names of people age 62 or older. Ortiz is charged with opening ten bank accounts at the co-conspirator's direction, withdrawing the funds and laundering them back through gift cards. The Indictment also alleges deposits of fraudulently obtained Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds, with the conspiracy involving almost $600,000.

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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Philadelphia Woman Charged With Money Laundering and Stealing Federal Funds in Scheme Directed by Online-Dating Paramour (USAO ED-PA 01/14/2022) (2022-01-20).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-philadelphia-woman-charged-with-money-laun-4b4ffaa60f/, SHA-256 2447f66f0e54535b7fc755288f1d349a1b3dc2919c5ea48a8f824497700d6194.

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                                     Department of Justice

                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office

                                  Eastern District of Pennsylvania

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 Friday, January 14, 2022



Philadelphia Woman Charged With Money Laundering and
Stealing Federal Funds in Scheme Directed by Online-Dating
                         Paramour
PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Myrna Ortiz,
43, of Philadelphia, PA, was charged in a 32-count Indictment in connection with a conspiracy to
steal and conceal the origin of fraudulently obtained Social Security benefits and COVID-19 PUA
unemployment benefits. The Indictment charges Ortiz with one count of conspiracy to commit
money laundering and 31 counts of theft of government funds. She made her initial appearance in
federal court on these charges earlier today.

According to the Indictment, Ortiz met an individual through the online dating website ‘Match.com,’
and began a relationship via digital messaging. She is charged with helping her online paramour
execute a scheme in which fraudulent claims were filed for Social Security Administration (SSA)
Retirement benefits, using the personal identifiable information of individuals age 62 or older, the
age at which taxpayers become eligible to begin collecting those benefits. The indictment charges
that Ortiz participated by laundering the stolen money. Specifically, she is charged with opening ten
bank accounts at the direction of her co-conspirator in order to receive the fraudulently issued
government funds, and then withdrawing the funds, purchasing gift cards with the cash, and
laundering the funds back to her co-conspirator through the gift cards. The scheme targeted high
wage earners who are over the age of 62 but have not yet filed for SSA Retirement benefits on their
own, and it impacted at least twenty-three victims.

Further, the Indictment alleges that the defendant helped steal money from the government
specifically related to COVID-19 emergency relief funds or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
(“PUA”) funds. Using the same bank accounts to which the fraudulently obtained SSA funds were
directed, Ortiz is also charged with depositing fraudulently obtained PUA funds in the names of
various victims and laundering these illegal proceeds back to the same co-conspirator. This scheme
involved deceiving the state workforce agencies of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia,
Arizona, and Ohio.

Through these schemes, Ortiz is alleged to have been involved in a conspiracy to defraud the
government, and to launder the stolen government funds in an amount of almost $600,000.

“Social Security retirement benefits and pandemic unemployment assistance funds are intended to
help Americans who have worked hard and now need some extra help making ends meet, either
because they are now enjoying their well-deserved retirement or because the COVID-19 pandemic
has dramatically impacted their ability to work and earn a living,” said U.S. Attorney Williams.
“Thieves who attempt to take these funds are taking advantage of honest workers – ripping them off
while also ripping off all taxpayers who fund these programs. As alleged, Ortiz fraudulently obtained
nearly $600,000 in government funds, all at the behest of an individual she met through an online
dating website.”
“An important part of the mission of the Office of Inspector General is to investigate allegations of
fraud related to unemployment insurance programs. We will continue to work with the Pennsylvania
Department of Labor and Industry and our law enforcement partners to investigate these types of
allegations,” stated Syreeta Scott, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Philadelphia Region, U.S.
Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and
the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Special
Assistant United States Attorney Megan Curran.
Topic(s):
Financial Fraud
Component(s):
USAO - Pennsylvania, Eastern
Contact:
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA 615 Chestnut
Street, Suite 1250 Philadelphia, PA 19106 JENNIFER CRANDALL Media Contact 215-861-8300 If
you have not done so already, follow @USAO_EDPA and @USAttyWilliams on Twitter to get the
most up-to-date information about big cases and community news.
                                                                               Updated January 14, 2022

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Our copy: 2022-01-20-Philadelphia-Woman-Charged-With-Money-Laundering-and-Stealing-Federal-Funds-in-Scheme-Directed-by-O.pdf
Original: www.oig.dol.gov