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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Pierre Woman Charged with Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, and Money Laundering (USAO D-SD 08/12/2021) (2021-08-16)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of South Dakota, dated August 12, 2021, announcing that Marietta Ravnaas, age 52, of Pierre, was indicted on August 3, 2021 for wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering and pled not guilty on August 10, 2021 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Moreno. The Indictment alleges that other participants in the scheme used stolen personal identifying information to apply for CARES Act unemployment benefits from various states. It alleges that Ravnaas knowingly allowed the payments to be deposited into Ravnaas's bank account, transferred money at the direction of others, frequently through the international money transfer service WorldRemit, and kept some of the funds. A trial date was set for October 12, 2021.

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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Pierre Woman Charged with Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, and Money Laundering (USAO D-SD 08/12/2021) (2021-08-16).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-pierre-woman-charged-with-wire-fraud-mail-97a249787d/, SHA-256 1a9d186c306be441770543d07297c4a84358090b10fc7f83363e4a8bdbb2c559.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice
                                         U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                       District of South Dakota


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        Thursday, August 12, 2021

 Pierre Woman Charged with Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, and
                 Money Laundering

 Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Pierre, South Dakota, woman has been
 indicted by a federal grand jury for Wire Fraud, Mail Fraud, and Money Laundering.

 Marietta Ravnaas, age 52, was indicted on August 3, 2021. She appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark
 A. Moreno on August 10, 2021, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

 The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 20 years in federal prison and/or a $500,000 fine, three
 years of supervised release, and up to $700 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be
 ordered.

 The Indictment alleges that Ravnaas participated in a scheme involving CARES Act unemployment
 benefits. Specifically, other participants in the scheme unlawfully obtained, possessed, and shared with one
 another the personal identifying information (PII) of various individuals. The PII was used to falsely and
 fraudulently apply for unemployment benefits from various states. The Indictment alleges that Ravnaas
 knowingly allowed the fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits payments to be deposited into her
 bank account, and then transferred money at the direction of other participants in the scheme. Ravnaas
 frequently transferred the funds to other participants using WorldRemit, an international money transfer
 service. Ravnaas also kept some of the funds to use for her own purposes.

 The charges are merely accusations and Ravnaas is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

 The investigation is being conducted by the Social Security Administration-Office of the Inspector General,
 the Department of Labor-Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal
 Investigation, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M.
 Hoffman is prosecuting the case.

 Ravnaas was released on bond pending trial. A trial date has been set for October 12, 2021.

 On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal
 the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance
 efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and
 prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with
 administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating
 existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and
 their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.
 For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, please visit
 https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

 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 (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the
 NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Topic(s):         Component(s):
Coronavirus       USAO - South Dakota
Financial Fraud

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www.oig.dol.gov
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