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U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Virginia Man Sentenced as Part of Massive Scheme to Steal Pandemic Unemployment Benefits (USAO WD-VA 11/08/2022) (2022-11-09)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Virginia, dated November 8, 2022, announcing that Danny L. Mullins, 50, a Pound, Virginia man, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $18,160 in restitution. The release states that Mullins was convicted after a two-day jury trial in August 2022 of conspiracy to defraud the United States, fraud in connection with federal emergency benefits, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to court documents and trial evidence as described, Mullins received more than $18,000 in benefits by conspiring with others, including Veronica Mullins and conspiracy leaders Danielle Chytka, Greg Tackett and Jeffrey Tackett. The conspiracy submitted claims for approximately 37 individuals and caused at least $499,000 in false claims to be paid.

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Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Virginia Man Sentenced as Part of Massive Scheme to Steal Pandemic Unemployment Benefits (USAO WD-VA 11/08/2022) (2022-11-09).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-virginia-man-sentenced-as-part-of-massive-7d6c347a13/, SHA-256 28a69741a3298e6669c7af569783a2591abd741fdb20e858e60d8599208b3e8c.

Full text

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                  Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Virginia Man Sentenced as Part of Massive Scheme to Steal
Pandemic Unemployment Benefits
ABINGDON, Va. – A Pound, Virginia man, who conspired with at least 37 others to steal pandemic
unemployment benefits, was sentenced yesterday to 36 months in federal prison and ordered to pay
$18,160 in restitution.

Danny L. Mullins, 50, was convicted following a two-day jury trial in August 2022 of conspiracy to
defraud the United States, fraud in connection with federal emergency benefits, conspiracy to
commit mail fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Mullins received more than $18,000
in fraudulent benefits by conspiring with others, including his sister, Veronica Mullins, and
conspiracy leaders Danielle Chytka, Greg Tackett, and Jeffrey Tackett, to input his personally
identifiable information to the Virginia Employment Commission in order to receive pandemic
unemployment benefits to which he was not entitled.

In all, the conspiracy involved submitting fraudulent claims for approximately 37 individuals,
including multiple inmates incarcerated in southwest Virginia regional jails, all of whom were not
eligible to receive pandemic unemployment benefits, and causing at least $499,000 in false claims to
be paid.

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh of the Western District of Virginia and Special
Agent in Charge Darrell J. Waldon of the Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigation,
Washington, D.C. Field Office made the announcement.

The Department of Labor - Office of the Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal
Investigation - Washington, D.C. Field Office, and the Norton Police Department investigated the
case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel J. Murphy and Lena L. Busscher prosecuted 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 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):
Coronavirus
Component(s):
USAO - Virginia, Western

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Original
www.oig.dol.gov
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