A man from Georgia has been convicted of defrauding the US government out of millions of dollars in a COVID identity theft scheme.

In a news press release, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says 34-year-old Malcolm Jeffery and his co-conspirators stole $16 million from the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) that was originally meant to cover unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authorities say that Jeffery filed over 7,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims using private information taken from victims of identity theft. To make his plan work, Jeffery filed the fake claims under his defunct business, Down N Dirty Transportation, pretending like they were legitimate employees.

As stated by Special Agent in Charge Mathew Broadhurst of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) Southeast Region:

“Malcolm Jeffrey engaged in a scheme with his co-defendants to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor by filing numerous fraudulent unemployment insurance claims in the names of identity theft victims and other individuals who were not entitled to such benefits. The claims were filed through a fictitious employer account that Jeffrey created in the name of his business, resulting in substantial losses to the program. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect the integrity of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Unemployment Insurance program.”

Jeffery was convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and faces a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.

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