U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Six Defendants Charged In $1 Million Covid Fraud Schemes (USAO WD-MI 10/27/2022) (2022-11-08)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Michigan, dated October 27, 2022, announcing that six individuals from Benton Harbor, Michigan, were indicted on charges relating to pandemic fraud schemes used to obtain over $1 million in COVID-19 relief. Charged are Roshell Beaty, Melvin Clinton, Danielle Branch, Christopher Bates, Brianna Rimpson and Christopher Branch; the release identifies Clinton, Danielle Branch and Christopher Branch as Beaty's children. The indictment alleges that between April 2020 and December 2021 the codefendants submitted at least 98 false unemployment insurance claims in the names of at least 61 different individuals, and Michigan, Indiana, California, Illinois and Arizona paid out more than $764,000. It also alleges a $49,900 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling $258,148.

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                                       Department of Justice
                                         U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                     Western District of Michigan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                       Thursday, October 27, 2022

 Six Defendants Charged In $1 Million Covid Fraud Schemes
   Benton Harbor mother, three adult children, and two others accused of
fraudulently obtaining pandemic unemployment insurance benefits and small
                              business loans
      GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — U.S. Attorney Mark Totten announced today that six
individuals from Benton Harbor, Michigan, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges
relating to pandemic fraud schemes they used to obtain over $1 million in COVID-19 relief, including
fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and small business loans. Charged in the
indictment are: Roshell Beaty (aka Roshell Clinton, Angel Clinton, and Angel Beaty), age 45, of
Benton Harbor; Beaty’s son Melvin Clinton, age 21, of Benton Harbor; Beaty’s daughter Danielle
Branch (aka Danielle Beaty), age 28, of Benton Harbor; Christopher Bates, age 22, of Benton Harbor;
Brianna Rimpson, age 24, a resident of the Grand Rapids area who previously lived in Benton
Harbor; and Beaty’s son Christopher Branch, age 27, a resident of the Atlanta, Georgia area who is
from Benton Harbor.

      “While many individuals and families were suffering from the financial challenges caused by
COVID-19, criminals used it as an opportunity to exploit pandemic relief programs for their own
financial gain, knowing they were not entitled to the funds,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “My
office will continue to collaborate with state and federal partners to rigorously investigate pandemic
fraud throughout the district, pursue charges against those who have committed such fraud, and
seek to recover ill-gotten gains.”

      The indictment alleges that, between April 2020 and December 2021, Roshell Beaty and her
codefendants conspired to commit wire fraud by submitting falsified and fraudulent claims and
certifications for pandemic unemployment insurance benefits, in their own names and in the names
of third parties, some of whom were victims of identity theft. According to the indictment, the six
codefendants submitted at least 98 false and fraudulent unemployment insurance claims and related
certifications in multiple states, in the names of at least 61 different individuals. In response to those
claims, the states of Michigan, Indiana, California, Illinois, and Arizona paid out more than
$764,000 in pandemic unemployment insurance benefits.

     Each of the six defendants is also charged with respective counts of wire fraud related to
pandemic unemployment insurance fraud. Two defendants—Roshell Beaty and her son Christopher
Branch—are charged with various counts of aggravated identity theft, for using the means of
identification of other people without lawful authority, in connection with the unemployment
insurance wire fraud conspiracy. Defendants Roshell Beaty, Melvin Clinton, Danielle Branch, and
Christopher Bates are each charged with fraud in connection with emergency benefits.

      The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA), which administers the joint state and
federal unemployment insurance program in Michigan, partnered in the investigation. “The
Michigan UIA has zero tolerance for anyone accused of breaking the public trust by stealing from
fellow taxpayers. We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners at the local, state,
and federal levels to bring bad actors to justice and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,”
said Julia Dale, director of the Michigan UIA. “Our investigators have helped bring charges
against 90 people accused of pandemic unemployment fraud and we’re not stopping there. Rooting
out fraud is a cornerstone of our ongoing reform of the agency and our commitment to providing
exemplary customer service.”

     In addition to charges stemming from unemployment insurance fraud schemes, five of the six
defendants are charged in the indictment with varying counts of wire fraud and conspiring to
commit wire fraud in connection with their alleged fraudulent receipt of loans intended to relieve
small businesses of burdens and costs associated with the pandemic. Roshell Beaty and Melvin
Clinton face charges for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan in the amount of $49,900, for a
purported hair and nail salon belonging to Clinton, with 10 employees. The Indictment alleges that
loan proceeds were used to purchase a 2017 Jaguar F-Pace SUV. Roshell Beaty, Melvin Clinton,
Danielle Branch, Christopher Bates, and Brianna Rimpson are charged in connection with Paycheck
Protection Program loans, totaling $258,148, for purported small businesses.

      The charges in an indictment are merely accusations, and a defendant is presumed innocent
until and unless proven guilty in a court of law. A conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, or
wire fraud, in connection with a declared major disaster or national emergency is subject to a prison
term of up to 30 years and a fine of up to $1,000,000, among other penalties. A conviction for
aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory prison term of two years, to be served consecutively to
any other sentence(s) imposed.

      The case was investigated by the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency of the Michigan
Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, the Office of Investigations of the Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S.
Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Kate Zell. The case is proceeding before U.S. District Judge Janet T.
Neff.

                                                    ###
Topic(s):
Labor & Employment
Consumer Protection
Cybercrime
Financial Fraud
Component(s):
USAO - Michigan, Western


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