Six Plead Guilty in $340K Pandemic Unemployment Fraud Scheme

Six defendants admit to defrauding the U.S. of over $340,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits.Photo byWesley TingeyonUnsplash

Six defendants indicted in May 2024 for conspiring to defraud the United States through a scheme involving fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims pled guilty in federal court yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia announced today.

Josef Ludwig Brown, 43, of Tazewell, Virginia; Crystal Samantha Shaw, 39, of Raven, Virginia; Jonathan Scott Webb, 40, of Raven, Virginia; Christopher Kirk Webb, 39, of Raven, Virginia; and Stephanie Amber Barton, 30, of Cedar Bluff, Virginia, all pled guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by fraudulently claiming emergency pandemic benefits.

Haleigh McKenzie Wolfe, 30, of Cedar Bluff, Virginia, also pled guilty to defrauding the United States in connection with emergency benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to court documents, from March 2020 to September 2021, the defendants conspired with others to file fraudulent claims for pandemic unemployment benefits while incarcerated in various jails throughout the Western District of Virginia.

Due to their incarceration status, they were ineligible for these benefits.

Brown, identified as a lead defendant, admitted to soliciting personal identifying information from other co-conspirators while incarcerated and providing it to Shaw, who used the information to file false claims for unemployment benefits, the department said.

In total, the Virginia Employment Commission paid out more than $340,000 in fraudulent pandemic relief benefits among 17 defendants charged in the conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.

This case was part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Task Force investigation, led by the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery, the department says.

The PRAC, comprising 20 Inspectors General, works to detect fraud, waste, and abuse in over $5 trillion in COVID-19 relief spending, according to the department.