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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Tampa Woman Sentenced To Prison For Access Device Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft Related To COVID Unemployment Insurance Benefits (USAO MD-FL 07/18/2022) (2022-07-19)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, dated July 18, 2022, announcing that U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday sentenced Rolanda Wingfield (39, Tampa) to three years in federal prison for access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, with $135,576 in restitution to state workforce agencies. The release states that Wingfield pleaded guilty on April 26, 2022. According to court documents, from approximately May through September 2020 Wingfield used the personal identifying information of others to submit false unemployment insurance claims, with benefits sent to bank accounts or debit cards in other names and withdrawn at ATMs. The U.S. Department of Labor determined that Wingfield obtained $135,576.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Tampa Woman Sentenced To Prison For Access Device Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft Related To COVID Unemployment Insurance Benefits (USAO MD-FL 07/18/2022) (2022-07-19).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-tampa-woman-sentenced-to-prison-for-access-7eeb7b4994/, SHA-256 5dc4d2181b1e531e2b31c638e892e436cc2b23ad67cbcfc2014e8d33d0bd81ef.

Full text

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          Monday, July 18, 2022

    Tampa Woman Sentenced To Prison For Access Device
    Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft Related To COVID
             Unemployment Insurance Benefits
Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Rolanda Wingfield (39,
Tampa) to three years in federal prison for access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. As part
of her sentence, the court also ordered Wingfield to pay $135,576 in restitution to the various state
workforce agencies she defrauded. Wingfield had pleaded guilty on April 26, 2022.

According to court documents, from approximately May through September 2020, Wingfield
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 she was not entitled. These UI benefits
were then transferred to bank accounts or loaded onto debit cards issued in the names of others.
Wingfield then used, or attempted to use, the fraudulently obtained debit cards to withdraw money
using ATMs. The U.S. Department of Labor determined that Wingfield obtained $135,576.

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 U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. It is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Gregory D. Pizzo and John Cannizzaro.
Topic(s):                                              Component(s):
Coronavirus                                            USAO - Florida, Middle
Disaster Fraud
Financial Fraud

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2022-07-19-Tampa-Woman-Sentenced-To-Prison-For-Access-Device-Fraud-And-Aggravated-Identity-Theft-Related-To-CO.pdf
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85,885 bytes
SHA-256
5dc4d2181b1e531e2b31c638e892e436cc2b23ad67cbcfc2014e8d33d0bd81ef
Our copy
2022-07-19-Tampa-Woman-Sentenced-To-Prison-For-Access-Device-Fraud-And-Aggravated-Identity-Theft-Related-To-CO.pdf
Original
www.oig.dol.gov
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