U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Stoneham Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Fraud Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (USAO D-MA 11/02/2021) (2021-11-03)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts, dated November 2, 2021, announcing that Daniel Maleus, 33, of Stoneham, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. The release states that Maleus filed and conspired with others to file fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims using the stolen personal information of others and email accounts created in the victims' names. Maleus and co-conspirators obtained more than $250,000 in payments on fraudulent claims submitted between April 2020 and April 2021. Maleus was indicted on July 22, 2021, and the case is before U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Stoneham Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Fraud Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (USAO D-MA 11/02/2021) (2021-11-03).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-stoneham-man-pleads-guilty-to-identity-the-e8c7a0e68d/, SHA-256 3561c8930d593a98a52ca470b374f12595800e6b3d82b1436fc0e53527b0d348.

Full text

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of Massachusetts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Stoneham Man Pleads Guilty to Identity Theft and Fraud
Related to COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
BOSTON – A Stoneham man pleaded guilty today to his involvement in a fraudulent scheme to
obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance using stolen personal information.

Daniel Maleus, 33, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of
wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel
scheduled sentencing for Feb. 15, 2022. Maleus was indicted on July 22, 2021.

In March 2020, in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, Congress passed the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which among other things, created a temporary
federal unemployment insurance program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The
PUA program, which in Massachusetts is administered by the Department of Unemployment
Assistance, provided unemployment insurance benefits for individuals who were not eligible for
other types of unemployment benefits. Maleus filed and conspired with others to file fraudulent PUA
claims using the stolen personal information of others as well as email accounts Maleus and others
created in the names of their victims. Maleus and his co-conspirators obtained more than $250,000
in payments on fraudulent unemployment claims submitted between April 2020 and April 2021.

The charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to
20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or
loss, whichever is greater. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence
of two years in prison to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed. Sentences are
imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other
statutory factors.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in
Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Jonathan Mellone, Special
Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations
made the announcement. Special assistance was provided by the Massachusetts Department of
Unemployment Assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Markham of Mendell’s Securities,
Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

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):
Financial Fraud
Identity Theft
Component(s):
USAO - Massachusetts
Updated November 2, 2021

File and source

File: 2021-11-03-Stoneham-Man-Pleads-Guilty-to-Identity-Theft-and-Fraud-Related-to-COVID-19-Pandemic-Unemployment-As.pdf
Size: 89,328 bytes
SHA-256: 3561c8930d593a98a52ca470b374f12595800e6b3d82b1436fc0e53527b0d348
Our copy: 2021-11-03-Stoneham-Man-Pleads-Guilty-to-Identity-Theft-and-Fraud-Related-to-COVID-19-Pandemic-Unemployment-As.pdf
Original: www.oig.dol.gov