U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Tampa Men Sentenced For Fraud And Identity Theft In COVID Benefits Conspiracy (USAO MD-FL 12/13/2021) (2021-12-16)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, dated December 13, 2021, announcing that U.S. District Judge Kathryn Mizelle sentenced Kary Stevenson (47) and Corey Quinn (35), both of Tampa, for conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity theft related to COVID unemployment insurance benefits. Stevenson was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months in federal prison and Quinn to 7 years, and both were ordered to pay $87,046 in restitution. The release states that Stevenson and Quinn pleaded guilty on September 21, 2021. According to court documents, from approximately May 2020 until August 12, 2020, Stevenson and Quinn used the personal identifying information of others to submit false unemployment insurance claims, seeking a total of over $1,000,000 but obtaining $87,046.

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“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Tampa Men Sentenced For Fraud And Identity Theft In COVID Benefits Conspiracy (USAO MD-FL 12/13/2021) (2021-12-16).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-tampa-men-sentenced-for-fraud-and-identity-6ada897afb/, SHA-256 1d491c94b2b1c751edbdb441c77b762b2313e8f8709bc8568aa893f20e29547e.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice
                                        U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                      Middle District of Florida


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                    Monday, December 13, 2021

    Tampa Men Sentenced For Fraud And Identity Theft In
               COVID Benefits Conspiracy
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Kathryn Mizelle has sentenced Kary Stevenson (47) and Corey
Quinn (35), both of Tampa, for conspiracy to commit access device fraud and aggravated identity
theft related to COVID unemployment insurance benefits. Stevenson was sentenced to 5 years and 10
months in federal prison and Quinn was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison. As part of their
sentence, the court also ordered Stevenson and Quinn to pay $87,046 in restitution to the various
state workforce agencies they defrauded.

Stevenson and Quinn had pleaded guilty on September 21, 2021.

According to court documents, from approximately May 2020 and continuing until August 12, 2020,
Stevenson and Quinn obtained the personal identifying information of others and used that
information to submit, or cause the submission of, false and fraudulent unemployment insurance
(UI) claims to various state workforce agencies, in order to obtain UI benefits to which they were not
entitled. These UI benefits were then transferred to bank accounts or loaded onto debits cards issued
in the names of other persons. Stevenson and Quinn then used, or attempted to use, the fraudulently
obtained debit cards to withdraw money from ATMs and to purchase items from retail
establishments. The U.S. Department of Labor determined that Stevenson and Quinn submitted
fraudulent UI claims seeking a total of over $1,000,000, but they only obtained $87,046 before they
were caught.

In March 2020, the President signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which expanded states’ ability to provide UI for
many workers impacted by COVID-19, including for workers who were not ordinarily eligible for
benefits.

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.

This case was investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the United States
Secret Service, and the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States
Attorneys Gregory D. Pizzo and John Cannizzaro.
Topic(s):
Coronavirus       Component(s):
Disaster Fraud    USAO - Florida, Middle
Financial Fraud
Identity Theft

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SHA-256: 1d491c94b2b1c751edbdb441c77b762b2313e8f8709bc8568aa893f20e29547e
Our copy: 2021-12-16-Tampa-Men-Sentenced-For-Fraud-And-Identity-Theft-In-COVID-Benefits-Conspiracy-USAO-MD-FL-12-13-2021.pdf
Original: www.oig.dol.gov