SC inmates among those charged in fraud scheme

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Nine current or former inmates of the South Carolina Department of Corrections and six other people have been indicted for allegedly receiving more than $4 million in fraudulent COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

A federal grand jury has returned a 51-count indictment against the current or former inmates and the six others for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a news release says.

The indictment alleges that from March through December 2020, nine SCDC inmates engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 unemployment benefits administered through the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce and through Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, New Jersey, Missouri, Arizona, and California, the release said.

According to the indictment, the defendants conspired and coordinated with other inmates and friends and relatives outside of SCDC to submit unemployment claims to SCDEW using the personal identification information of both inmates in SCDC and individuals outside the prison system, the release said.

The incarcerated inmates harvested personal information such as social security numbers and dates of birth from other inmates and used it to apply for COVID unemployment benefits in the names of those inmates as well as themselves. Some inmates provided their information willingly in exchange for a portion of the proceeds derived from unemployment benefits. Other inmates had no knowledge that unemployment benefits were being applied for on their behalf, according to the release.

The incarcerated defendants also obtained the personal information of unwilling people outside of SCDC using various extortion schemes. One of the primary schemes utilized by the defendants was known as “Johning.” Using contraband cellphones within SCDC, inmates posed as younger males or females and lured individuals to send them nude or compromising photos. After obtaining the photos, the inmates contacted the victims posing as law enforcement. The inmates then extorted the victims into sending them money and/or photos of their social security cards and driver’s licenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The non-incarcerated defendants received unemployment benefits in the names of the extortion victims and SCDC inmates in the form of government checks and prepaid Visa debit cards.  They then used ATM withdrawals, wire transfers, and mobile banking applications to make the proceeds available to the incarcerated defendants.

In total, the indictment alleges the fraudulent scheme resulted in a loss of $4.99 million to the U.S. government.