A Connecticut woman has to serve three months in prison for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds, but she also has to pay back $233,306, according to federal authorities.
Victoria Kates, 35, of New Britain, also was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to two years of supervised release, according to federal authorities.
Citing court documents and statements made in court, authorities noted that, in 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act provided emergency financial assistance to people who had economic loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One part was a temporary federal unemployment insurance program for pandemic unemployment assistance for people who were not eligible for other types of benefits due to their employment status.
Authorities said Kates defrauded the state Department of Labor of $217,056 by filing fraudulent unemployment applications with the agency for her family, acquaintances, and others, from March 2020 through May 2021.
“Kates prepared and submitted the original applications and, in certain instances, submitted required weekly recertifications of the applicant’s purported continued unemployment status. Kates took a portion of the payouts as a fee,” federal authorities said in a statement.
In one case Kates submitted an unemployment application for another person “that made several false representations, including that the applicant was a self-employed driver who worked 40 hours per week when, in fact, the applicant was neither self-employed nor worked the hours represented.”
The labor department made $27,993 in payments, with Kates taking at least $1,000 to $1,500 as a fee, authorities said. When the labor department sought proof of legal wages and address, Kates “created and provided to the CT-DOL a fraudulent IRS form showing the applicant’s purported gross wages for 2019 and a cropped photograph of a business envelope to make it appear that the applicant had lived at the represented address,” authorities said.
Further, in 2021, Kates received $16,250 through the PPP loan program by “making false representations, including overstating her yearly gross income” and she also “provided a false IRS filing to support the income figure on the application. She subsequently provided additional fraudulent information to obtain forgiveness of the loan,” authorities said.
Kates in April pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud; Nagala ordered her to pay $233,306 in restitution.
Kates is free on a $40,000 bond, is required to report to prison on March 10.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General.
Allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 can be reported by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.