SAN JUAN, P.R. – On December 15, 2022, a Federal Grand Jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned four-separate indictments charging four individuals with engaging in fraud to obtain Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits totaling $210,228, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Various-federal agencies were involved in the investigations, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), the United States Secret Service (USSS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources.
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 to obtain unemployment insurance benefits which contained PUA and FPUC funds.
Under the provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, persons who were business owners, self-employed workers, independent contractors, or gig workers qualified for federal benefits (PUA and FPUC) administered by the DTRH if they previously performed such work in Puerto Rico and were 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 and were required to provide personal identifying information, which included their name, mailing address, gender, email, phone number, social security number, and date of birth. Moreover, claimants had to identify a qualifying occupational status and COVID-19 related reason for being out of work. In their application, claimants could also submit several documents as evidence of their income.
If the DTRH approved a claimant’s application, the DTRH would send a check to the claimant via the United States Postal Service for qualified benefits which could contain regular unemployment insurance benefits and federal funds in the form of PUA, FPUC, and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
The indictments charge the four individuals with theft of United States’ property—PUA and FPUC benefits—and mail fraud because 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 PUA and FPUC benefits from the DTRH via mail in the form of checks that they were not entitled to receive. The defendants then negotiated the checks or deposited them in their bank accounts.
The defendants charged are Juan I. De La Cruz-David, who fraudulently obtained $133,518, Diana C. Infante-Frias, who fraudulently obtained $10,122; Miguel El Rosario-Taveras, who fraudulently obtained $27,366; and Olimpia Buntin, who fraudulently obtained $39,222.
“These arrests send a clear and unmistakable message to those who try to exploit a national emergency to steal taxpayer-funded resources from vulnerable individuals and small businesses: do not use the global pandemic to scam and steal from hardworking citizens. If you do, we will find you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “We are proud to work with our law enforcement partners to hold wrongdoers accountable and to safeguard taxpayer funds.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor Acevedo is 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 10 years of imprisonment for theft of government money; a fine of up to $250,000; and three years of supervised release.
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 innocent unless and until proven guilty.