U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Seattle man who defrauded relief programs of more than $1 million sentenced to 8+ years in prison (USAO WD-WA 05/23/2023) (2023-05-30)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington, dated May 23, 2023, announcing that Bryan Alan Sparks, 42, a former Seattle resident, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart to 100 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The release states that Sparks was indicted in November 2021 and later pleaded guilty. According to records filed in the case, from March 2020 until at least January 2021, Sparks and a coconspirator used stolen personal information of more than 50 Washington residents and businesses to obtain approximately $521,900 from the Small Business Administration and $519,700 from the Washington Employment Security Department. Sparks attempted to obtain at least $1.98 million, was ordered to pay $1,041,661 in restitution and faces five years of supervised release.

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PRESS RELEASE



Seattle man who defrauded relief
programs of more than $1 million
sentenced to 8+ years in prison
Tuesday, May 23, 2023


For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington


Stole identities of real people, creating chaos and hardship for
them and pandemic relief systems
Seattle – A former Seattle resident who defrauded federal COVID-19 benefit programs
of more than $1 million was sentenced today to 100 months in prison for wire fraud and
aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Bryan Alan Sparks, 42,
was indicted for the fraud scheme in November 2021 and pleaded guilty January
20,2023. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said, Sparks was
“a serial thief and a fraudster – one of the more successful ones…. I am appalled by the
damage Mr. Sparks has done.”

“People such as Mr. Sparks took advantage of the public and our government at the
height of a crisis, and I’m glad to see him held accountable for the damage he caused,”
said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “The harm goes beyond depleting government funds –
his use of other people’s identities has damaged the victims and will continue to cause
problems for them into the future.”

According to records filed in the case, from March 2020 until at least January 2021,
Sparks and a coconspirator used stolen personal information of more than 50
Washington residents and businesses to apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)
from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and unemployment benefits from the
Washington Employment Security Department (ESD). Sparks and his coconspirator
obtained approximately $521,900 from SBA and $519,700 from ESD. Sparks opened
fraudulent bank accounts to receive the benefits and had unemployment benefit debit
cards mailed to a variety of addresses in the Seattle area where he could retrieve
them. In all, Sparks attempted to obtain at least $1.98 million in federally funded
payments.
Sparks used the identities of real people and, in some instances, actual small businesses
to open bank and credit accounts. The victims suffered significant harm. One person saw
his credit score drop 200 points because of the seven credit and bank accounts opened
in his name. The victim’s impact statement stated that the financial toll of Sparks’ crimes
included being unable to execute his plan to start a business and invest in real estate.
He believes that these consequences will be lasting for “years to come.”

Another victim wrote about spending hours on the phone with law enforcement
reporting the identity theft. “This fraud has changed me and will always cause me to
have concern for my safety and for my family’s safety . . . This is something that I would
never want anyone else to have to deal with. It is not a good feeling, and this is how it
will be.”

In September 2020, law enforcement linked Sparks to lock boxes seized in Portland,
Oregon. When the safes were searched, officers seized more than $65,000 in cash and a
number of debit cards.

Assistant United States Attorney Cindy Chang wrote in her sentencing memo, “During a
nine-month period, despite multiple encounters and seizures by law enforcement in
multiple states, Sparks possessed at least 46 cell phones, 14 laptops, multiple credit card
skimmers, countless bank and identification cards in identities other than Sparks…, and
various other sophisticated devices used for identity theft.”

In all, Sparks was ordered to pay $1,041,661 in restitution to the government programs.
He will be on supervised release for five years following the prison term.

“Bryan Sparks caused substantial harm to individuals by stealing their identities and
misusing Social Security numbers,” said Gail Ennis, Inspector General for the Social
Security Administration. “This sentence of 100 months holds Sparks accountable for his
actions. I thank our law enforcement partners for their invaluable work on this case and
the U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecuting this case.”

The investigation of this case is led by the Social Security Administration, Office of the
Inspector General (SSA-OIG) and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with partners: Colusa
County Sheriff’s Office (CA); Washington State Employment Security Department; Small
Business Administration, Office of the Inspector General; Amtrak Police Department
(D.C.); FBI (Sacramento, CA office); FBI Cyber Task Force (D.C.); Washington State
Department of Licensing, Driver and Vehicle Investigations; and the Department of
Labor, Office of the Inspector General.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cindy Chang and
Seth Wilkinson.

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.

Contact
Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Communications Director Emily Langlie at
(206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.

Updated May 23, 2023

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

DISASTER FRAUD

FINANCIAL FRAUD

IDENTITY THEFT


Component
USAO - Washington, Western


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