U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Twelve Individuals Indicted And Arrested For Unemployment Benefits And Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Fraud (USAO D-PR 04/13/2021) (2021-04-28)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Puerto Rico, dated April 13, 2021, announcing that on April 7 and 8, 2021 a federal grand jury returned eleven separate indictments charging twelve individuals with fraud against the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance programs, with losses totaling $419,580. According to the indictments, the defendants submitted applications to the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources with false social security numbers and false employment information. Those charged include Millisen M. Martínez-Medina, who also faces two counts of aggravated identity theft. Postal employee José Daniel Le Hardy-Figueroa and Christoffer Pérez-Vélez are charged over $11,388, with Le Hardy-Figueroa allegedly represented as an unemployed barber while working as a mail carrier.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

                                      Department of Justice
                                       U.S. Attorney’s Office
                                       District of Puerto Rico

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   Tuesday, April 13, 2021

       Twelve Individuals Indicted And Arrested For
    Unemployment Benefits And Pandemic Unemployment
                 Assistance (PUA) Fraud
SAN JUAN, P.R. – On April 7 and 8, 2021, the Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico
returned eleven separate indictments charging twelve (12) individuals with fraud against the
Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W.
Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. These cases were investigated by
various federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), United States Postal
Inspection Service (USPIS), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General
(USDOL-OIG), the Social Security Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), and the United States
Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), with the assistance of local law enforcement
officials from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau (PRPB), Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human
Resources, Puerto Rico Office of Inspector General (PR-OIG), and the Puerto Rico Department of
Treasury (Hacienda).

According to the indictments, the defendants engaged in schemes to defraud the Puerto Rico
Department of Labor and Human Resources (Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos,
“DTRH”) by submitting fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance benefits, including
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits. The false information submitted included false
social security numbers and false employment information. The loss associated with these cases
totals $419,580.

Under the PUA provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a
person who is a business owner, self-employed worker, independent contractor, or gig worker
qualified for PUA benefits administered by the DTRH if he/she previously performed such work in
Puerto Rico and was unemployed, partially unemployed, unable to work, or unavailable to work due
to a COVID-19 related reason.

To obtain these federal benefits, individuals could apply online through the DTRH’s web site—
www.trabajo.pr.gov. Claimants answered various questions to establish their eligibility.
Furthermore, claimants were required to provide personal identifying information, which included
their name, mailing address, gender, email, phone number, social security number, and date of birth
(collectively referred to as personal identification information). Moreover, claimants had to identify a
qualifying occupational status and COVID-19 related reason for being out of work. Claimants could
also submit several documents as evidence of their income.

If the DTRH approved the claimant’s application, the DTRH would send a check to the claimant via
United States Postal Service for qualified benefits which could contain regular Unemployment
Insurance (UI) benefits and federal funds in the form of Pandemic Emergency Unemployment
Compensation (PEUC), PUA, and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits.

Ten indictments charge nine individuals with theft of government property and mail fraud. The
defendants engaged in deceptive conduct designed to fraudulently obtain multiple unemployment
checks from the DTRH by using false social security numbers. The defendants received UI benefits
from the DTRH via mail in the form of checks that they were not qualified or authorized to receive.
The defendants negotiated the various check fraudulently obtained from the DTRH.
The defendants charged in nine related indictments are: Millisen M. Martínez-Medina, who
fraudulently obtained $54,870; her consensual partner Luis Cruz-Reyes, who fraudulently obtained
$64,992; Jonathan Rivera-Gutiérrez, who fraudulently obtained $44,148; Jennifer Hernández-
Romero, who fraudulently obtained $36, 222; Mary L. Benitez-Ortiz, who fraudulently obtained
$32,628; Daniel Colón-Díaz, who fraudulently obtained $68,250; Gabriel A. Robles-Guzmán, who
fraudulently obtained $33,030; Denisse Sánchez-Ortiz, who fraudulently obtained $23,172; and Luis
A. Flores-Díaz, who fraudulently obtained $20, 910.

Defendant Millisen M. Martínez-Medina is also facing two counts of aggravated identity theft for
using other people’s Social Security numbers without their authorization, during and in relation to a
felony, that is, the mail fraud scheme.

In another indictment, defendants José Daniel Le Hardy-Figueroa, a U.S. Postal Employee, and
Christoffer Pérez-Vélez, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud and theft of
government moneys in an amount of $11,388. The defendants conspired to fraudulently represent to
the DTRH that José Daniel Le Hardy-Figueroa was an unemployed barber, when in fact he was a
mail carrier employed by the United States Postal Service.

In the final indictment, defendant Félix R. Cruz-Santana, who fraudulently obtained $29,970, is
charged with mail fraud, theft of government money, and misuse of a social security number.

“These defendants participated in a scheme to capitalize on the pandemic by filing fraudulent PUA
applications and illegally enriching themselves at the expense of the government and taxpayers,” said
U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “The United States Department of Justice, along with our state and federal
counterparts, will continue to aggressively pursue those who seek to illegally exploit the ongoing
national emergency for their own benefit. We commend the outstanding work and collaboration of
our law enforcement partners in the investigation of these cases.”

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) Vanessa D. Bonano-Rodríguez from the Social Security
Administration; SAUSA Camille García-Jiménez from the United States Postal Service, and Assistant
U.S. Attorney Victor Acevedo are in charge of the prosecution of these cases. If convicted, the
defendants are facing the following sentences: 20 years of imprisonment for mail fraud and
conspiracy to commit mail fraud; 10 years of imprisonment for theft of government money; and 5
years of imprisonment for misuse of Social Security number, a fine of up to $250,000 and three
years of supervised release. Defendant Millisen M. Martínez-Medina also faces a two-year
mandatory term of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft charge.

To report a COVID-19-related fraud scheme or suspicious activity, contact the National Center for
Disaster Fraud (NCDF) by calling the NCDF Hotline at 1-866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web
Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form

The indictments contain only charges and are not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed to
be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

                                                ###
Topic(s):                                              Component(s):
Coronavirus                                            USAO - Puerto Rico
                                                                                   Updated April 13, 2021


File and source

File

2021-04-28-Twelve-Individuals-Indicted-And-Arrested-For-Unemployment-Benefits-And-Pandemic-Unemployment-Assist.pdf

Size

95,064 bytes

SHA-256

12b20da8c045ad4c114a6b08f735567b0e26e92cd3ec5b1b5af997420f47c902

Our copy

2021-04-28-Twelve-Individuals-Indicted-And-Arrested-For-Unemployment-Benefits-And-Pandemic-Unemployment-Assist.pdf

Original

www.oig.dol.gov