A Newport News resident has been sentenced to seven years and four months in prison after authorities say she ran a COVID-19 unemployment scheme that used inmates’ and others’ identities to collect hundreds of thousands in benefits.
A federal sentence was handed down this week after prosecutors said the scheme involved filing false unemployment insurance claims in the names of incarcerated people and other victims during the pandemic. Officials say the fraud took place while expanded federal pandemic-era benefits were available and targeted the Virginia Employment Commission’s system for distributing unemployment compensation.
From May 2020 to October 2021, investigators say Lakeia Simone Grant, also known by several other names and listed as 40 years old, orchestrated a plot to misuse expanded unemployment benefits by submitting claims using the personal identifying information of prison inmates and additional individuals. Grant allegedly coordinated with recruiters who gathered inmate information and then filed claims that falsely stated the applicants were ready, willing, and able to work and had lost employment because of COVID-19.
Prosecutors report that Grant and co-conspirators successfully filed roughly 38 UI claims using inmates’ names, triggering payments that totaled approximately $546,576. The Virginia Employment Commission recovered some funds, but the reported actual loss to VEC was about $480,392.76, while at least four more successful claims for non-inmates produced an additional fraud loss of about $107,670.
According to court documents, Grant not only filed claims directly but also arranged the transfer and spending of proceeds, and she allegedly received or negotiated percentages for claims filed on behalf of non-inmates using stolen personally identifying information. The indictment and related filings describe a pattern in which recruiters, claim preparers, and payout coordinators worked together to convert stolen identities into benefit payments, then funneled money back to organizers in the scheme.
Grant has a lengthy criminal history with multiple prior convictions spanning two decades, including convictions in November 2005 for obstruction of justice and petit larceny after a shoplifting incident that escalated to threats and an attempt to strike a loss prevention officer. Additional convictions listed in court records include unlawful wounding in July 2008, conspiracies and false pretense charges in April 2010 and October 2014, a 2019 conviction for conspiring to commit financial card fraud in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a December 2019 conviction for failing to return a rental car.
The investigation involved several federal watchdogs and law enforcement offices, including the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mack Coleman prosecuted the case. On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division.
The Department of Justice described the new Fraud Division’s role as pursuing those who steal or misuse taxpayer dollars, with an emphasis on rigorous investigation and prosecution. Department of Justice efforts to combat fraud support President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
