Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Source documents U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Woman Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Fraud (USAO D-PR 04/26/2022) (2022-04-28)

U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Woman Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Fraud (USAO D-PR 04/26/2022) (2022-04-28)

Summary

A press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Puerto Rico, dated April 26, 2022, announcing that Millisen M. Martínez-Medina pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Camille Vélez-Rivé to 13 counts of theft of government funds from the Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program. According to court documents, from June 2020 up to December 2020 Martínez-Medina submitted UI applications to the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources on the defendant's own behalf and for at least twelve others, using false social security numbers. The benefits taken had a value of approximately $474,504.00. Sentencing is scheduled for August 23, 2022, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count.

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

Cite this document

“U.S. Department of Labor OIG, Woman Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Fraud (USAO D-PR 04/26/2022) (2022-04-28).” Original at www.oig.dol.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/u-s-department-of-labor-oig-woman-pleads-guilty-to-unemployment-benefi-6e8b3c3134/, SHA-256 4f6b3a5a33a38bead9ec4d84e3105d8bd95d94bde139680b8a09922d5e0ae01f.

Full text

                                      Department of Justice

                                         U.S. Attorney’s Office

                                        District of Puerto Rico

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                   Tuesday, April 26, 2022



      Woman Pleads Guilty to Unemployment Benefits and
       Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Fraud
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Defendant Millisen M. Martínez-Medina pleaded guilty before United
States Magistrate Judge Camille Vélez-Rivé to 13 counts of theft of government funds from the
Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, announced W.
Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. She was charged in 12 separate cases
regarding PUA fraud in April and October of 2021.

According to court documents, from June 2020, up to December 2020, Millisen M. Martínez-
Medina engaged in deceptive conduct designed to fraudulently obtain Unemployment Insurance
compensation from the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources (PRDLHR) by
using false personal identification information, including false social security numbers. Specifically,
the defendant submitted to the PRDLHR Unemployment Insurance (UI) applications on her own
behalf and on behalf of at least twelve others, utilizing false social security numbers.

Martínez-Medina, willfully and knowingly stole and converted to her own use or the use of another,
money of the United States, namely UI benefits, payments to which no one was entitled, having a
value of approximately $474,504.00.

Defendant Martínez-Medina is scheduled to be sentenced on August 23, 2022 and faces a maximum
penalty of 10 years in prison for each count. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence
after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

These cases were investigated by various federal agencies, including the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the United States
Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), and the Social Security Office of
Inspector General (SSA-OIG), with the assistance of local law enforcement officials from the Puerto
Rico Police Bureau (PRPB), the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources, and the
Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda).

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) Vanessa D. Bonano-Rodríguez from the Social Security
Administration and Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Acevedo are in charge of the prosecution of these
cases.

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.

                                                 ###
Topic(s):
Coronavirus
Financial Fraud
Component(s):
USAO - Puerto Rico
                     Updated April 26, 2022

File and source

File
2022-04-28-Woman-Pleads-Guilty-to-Unemployment-Benefits-and-Pandemic-Unemployment-Assistance-PUA-Fraud-USAO-D.pdf
Size
268,678 bytes
SHA-256
4f6b3a5a33a38bead9ec4d84e3105d8bd95d94bde139680b8a09922d5e0ae01f
Our copy
2022-04-28-Woman-Pleads-Guilty-to-Unemployment-Benefits-and-Pandemic-Unemployment-Assistance-PUA-Fraud-USAO-D.pdf
Original
www.oig.dol.gov
Back to top