A Union man today admitted that he illegally obtained more than $450,000 in unemployment insurance benefits, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Honig, Maurice Mills, 29, of Union, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with wire fraud.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law.
The CARES Act created a new temporary federal unemployment insurance program called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides unemployment insurance benefits (UIB) for individuals who were not eligible for other types of unemployment (e.g., the self-employed, independent contractors, gig economy workers).
The CARES Act also created a new temporary federal program called Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation that provides additional benefits to those eligible for PUA and regular UIB.
The New York State Department of Labor administers and manages the regular unemployment and PUA programs in the State of New York.
Between August and September of 2020, Mills submitted fraudulent UIB applications to the State of New York using the names of other individuals.
As a result, the State of New York approved and provided, and Mills falsely obtained more than $450,000 in UIB.