Police say duo stole thousands in COVID funds after chase that started in Jasper Co.
Two people suspected of stealing thousands of dollars in COVID-19 unemployment insurance funds admitted to doing so this week in a U.S. District Court, a Department of Justice news release said.
Florida residents Tamesha Lashelle Brown, 41, of Dade City, and Malik Abdul McCaully, 43, of Tampa, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit various offenses, including mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, disaster relief fraud, and access device fraud, the release said.
Brown and McCaully obtained personal identifying information of other individuals without their knowledge or consent and used that information to file fraudulent applications for unemployment assistance, according to court documents and testimony. They also allegedly posed as the applicants when talking with the banks distributing the payments.
They acquired bank cards with more than $100,000 in unemployment insurance funds loaded on them, and then withdrew portions of that money from various ATMs in Pennsylvania.
The pair first attracted law enforcement’s attention on Oct. 3 when a Jasper County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to pull them over in a traffic stop on I-95. Instead McCaully, who was driving, sped away, initiating a chase before crashing the vehicle in Pooler, Georgia.
McCaully and Brown were arrested, and police found more than $20,000 in cash, fake IDs, and dozens of the prepaid debit cards issued by states’ unemployment insurance funds in other individuals’ names.
“COVID-19 relief funds approved by Congress were intended specifically to help unemployed citizens struggling financially during the pandemic,” said David H. Estes, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “These defendants created a scheme to steal those funds for their own enrichment — but that scheme came to an end in Georgia.”
They each face up to five years in federal prison, in addition to “substantial financial penalties” and a maximum of three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.
“It is disheartening to see the willingness of some individuals to take advantage of people in need during a national and world crisis,” said Chris Hacker, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “Their personal greed affects every taxpaying citizen, in particular those who need help most. The FBI will make every effort to make sure federal funds are used as intended.”
