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ABINGDON, Virginia – Five Southwest Virginia residents who conspired with more than 30 others to defraud the United States government by making fraudulent claims to more than $ 499,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits, postal fraud, and related issues Alleged crimes pleaded guilty this week and most recently in US District Court in Abingdon.
According to court documents, Patrick Payne, 43, Randall Johnson, 42, Steven Mullins Jr., 33, Curtis Mullins, 25, and Melinda Davis, 58, have conspired with others to submit pandemic unemployment benefit claims through the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) to deliver. Website. The program involved filing applications for a variety of people who were not eligible for pandemic unemployment benefits, including numerous inmates detained in regional prisons in southwest Virginia. To date, 19 of the co-conspirators have pleaded guilty to their roles in the wider conspiracy.
Conspiracy members lied about the program filings to make applicants appear to be eligible for benefits. As Pandemic Unemployment Benefit was paid weekly, the false information in each of these registrations was re-verified and recertified on numerous occasions throughout the program.
In total, the conspiracy filed fraudulent claims for about 37 people, paying at least $ 499,000 in false claims. In addition to the defendants, eight co-conspirators have already signed declarations of consent with the United States.
