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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Schaller Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits Fraud (USAO ND-IA 05/21/2021) (2021-05-27)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa, dated May 21, 2021, announcing that Alvin Lavon Rex, age 61, from Schaller, Iowa, was sentenced on May 20, 2021, by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand; the term is 60 months' imprisonment. The release states that Rex pleaded guilty on December 18, 2020 to one count of mail fraud and admitted receiving over $35,000 in unemployment benefits in the names of other individuals from Arizona, Ohio and Massachusetts, then withdrawing the cash and mailing it. Rex also admitted receiving a fraudulent tax refund in another person's name and cashing counterfeit checks before the pandemic. The sentence includes $63,070.03 in restitution and a five-year term of supervised release. The case file number is 20-CR-4062.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Schaller Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits Fraud (USAO ND-IA 05/21/2021) (2021-05-27).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-schaller-man-sentenced-to-five-years-in-fe-44e4f7dbf3/, SHA-256 56cc9daf9239d81991c3824cd3873a01054986444f0fb62a43aaa23b23e0544e.

Full text

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             Friday, May 21, 2021

 Schaller Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for
          COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits Fraud
 Received Over $35,000 in Benefits to Which He Was Not Entitled from Three
                                    States
A man who received and transferred over $35,000 in fraudulently obtained CARES Act
unemployment funds from multiple states was sentenced on May 20, 2021, to five years in federal
prison. Alvin Lavon Rex, age 61, from Schaller, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 18,
2020, guilty plea to one count of mail fraud.

In a plea agreement, and at his plea and sentencing hearings, Rex admitted he opened multiple bank
accounts in the Storm Lake, Iowa, area in May and June 2020. Rex received over $35,000 in
unemployment benefits in the names of other individuals from Arizona, Ohio, and
Massachusetts. He then withdrew the benefits in cash and mailed the cash through the United States
Postal Service. Rex also admitted that, in the months preceding the pandemic, he had received a
false and fraudulent tax refund in the name of another person and cashed counterfeit checks at local
banks. As a part of his plea agreement, Rex agreed to make full restitution to those banks.

Rex was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Rex
was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $63,070.03 in restitution. He
must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the
federal system.

“Alvin Rex took advantage of unemployment benefits intended for those who lost their jobs because
of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Acting United States Attorney Sean R. Berry. “We will vigorously
investigate and prosecute those who seek to profit from fraud involving COVID-19 benefits. Rex’s
sentence reflects the seriousness of his offense and demonstrates that there will be consequences for
committing fraud, including prison.”

This prosecution is an example of the Department of Justice’s strong commitment to combating
fraud and criminal activity related to COVID-19. 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 case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tim Vavricek and was investigated by
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector
General, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Storm Lake Police Department. The
Sac County Sheriff’s Office, the State of Arizona’s UI Benefit Fraud Investigation Unit, Office of
Inspector General, the State of Massachusetts’ Program Integrity Unit, Department of
Unemployment Assistance, and the State of Ohio’s Benefit Payment Fraud Control Unit, Department
of Job and Family Services provided assistance to the investigation.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 20-CR-4062.

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

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2021-05-27-Schaller-Man-Sentenced-to-Five-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-COVID-19-Unemployment-Benefits-Fraud-USA.pdf
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90,584 bytes
SHA-256
56cc9daf9239d81991c3824cd3873a01054986444f0fb62a43aaa23b23e0544e
Our copy
2021-05-27-Schaller-Man-Sentenced-to-Five-Years-in-Federal-Prison-for-COVID-19-Unemployment-Benefits-Fraud-USA.pdf
Original
www.oig.dol.gov
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