Justice Served: 12-Year Sentence for $30 Million Unemployment Fraud in Georgia
A Georgia woman, Tyshion Nautese Hicks, 32, of Vienna, was sentenced Thursday for orchestrating a scheme that defrauded the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) out of tens of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits intended to assist individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Hicks received a 12-year federal prison sentence, followed by three years of supervised release, with restitution to be determined at a later date.
A Large-Scale COVID Fraud Operation
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, stated, “In one of the largest COVID fraud schemes ever prosecuted, the defendant and her coconspirators filed more than 5,000 fraudulent COVID unemployment insurance claims using stolen identities and unlawfully obtained more than $30 million in benefits.”
Details of the Fraudulent Claims
Court documents reveal that from March 2020 to November 2022, Hicks and her co-conspirators submitted over 5,000 false unemployment claims to the GaDOL, resulting in the theft of at least $30 million in benefits. To execute this scheme, Hicks and others created fictitious employers and fabricated employee lists using stolen personally identifiable information (PII) from thousands of victims.
Acquisition of Stolen Data
The indictment further details that Hicks and her associates acquired PII from various sources, including purchasing it online and bribing an employee of an Atlanta healthcare network to steal patient information from the hospital’s database.
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Using this stolen data, the co-conspirators directed funds from fraudulent claims to prepaid debit cards, which were mailed to addresses in Cordele, Vienna, and surrounding areas.
Bribery and Further Investigation
During the investigation, it was revealed that Hicks bribed a U.S. Postal Service carrier to divert mail containing debit cards loaded with over $512,000 in fraudulent proceeds to her.
Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman of the IRS Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office emphasized, “The sentence received by the defendant is the outcome of IRS Criminal Investigation’s commitment to investigating and prosecuting those who attempt to defraud various agencies by filing fraudulent claims using another person’s identifying information.”
Hicks’ sentencing highlights the ongoing efforts to combat fraud and protect public funds during a time of crisis.