ALBANY, NEW YORK – Kahleke Taylor, age 21, of Albany; Taquan Parker, age 25, of Snellville, Georgia, and previously of Albany; and Olajuwon Sutherland, age 26, of Troy, New York, have been indicted earlier this month for participating in a fraudulent scheme to acquire greater than $100,000 in unemployment insurance coverage advantages. The alleged false claims exploited federal applications supposed to assist out-of-work New Yorkers through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The announcement was made by United States Legal professional Carla B. Freedman; Matthew Scarpino, Appearing Particular Agent in Cost of the Buffalo Discipline Workplace of Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI); New York State Inspector Basic Lucy Lang; Jonathan Mellone, Particular Agent in Cost, New York Area, United States Division of Labor, Workplace of Inspector Basic (USDOL-OIG); and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Cost of the Boston Division of the USA Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
The indictment alleges that Parker and Sutherland supplied Taylor with the non-public figuring out data of different individuals, which Taylor used to file false claims by way of the New York State Division of Labor (NYSDOL) web site. NYSDOL in the end paid greater than $100,000 in advantages. The fees within the indictment are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed harmless except and till confirmed responsible.
Taylor appeared final week earlier than United States Justice of the Peace Choose Daniel J. Stewart and was ordered detained after he waived a detention listening to. Parker appeared final week in the USA District Court docket for the Northern District of Georgia, was launched with situations, and is scheduled to first seem earlier than Choose Stewart on March 10. Sutherland appeared at the moment earlier than Choose Stewart, who ordered Sutherland detained pending a detention listening to scheduled for tomorrow.
The defendants are charged with mail and wire fraud, in addition to aggravated identification theft. The mail and wire fraud prices carry a most time period of 20 years in jail, a advantageous of as much as $250,000, and a time period of supervised launch of as much as 3 years. The fees for aggravated identification theft carry a compulsory time period of two years in jail, to be imposed consecutive to every other time period of imprisonment. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a choose based mostly on the actual statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Tips and different elements.
This case is being investigated by HSI, the New York State Inspector Basic’s Workplace, USDOL-OIG, and USPIS, with help from the NYSDOL Workplace of Particular Investigations and the Schenectady County Division of Social Companies, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Legal professional John T. Chisholm.
On Could 17, 2021, the Legal professional Basic established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Process Drive to marshal the assets of the Division of Justice in partnership with businesses throughout authorities to boost efforts to fight and forestall pandemic-related fraud. The Process Drive bolsters efforts to analyze and prosecute essentially the most culpable home and worldwide legal actors and assists businesses tasked with administering aid applications to stop fraud by, amongst different strategies, augmenting and incorporating present coordination mechanisms, figuring out assets and methods to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing data and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For extra data on the Division’s response to the pandemic, please go to https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus.
Anybody with details about allegations of tried fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Division of Justice’s Nationwide Middle for Catastrophe Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or by way of the NCDF Internet Grievance Type at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.