A former Department of Labor employee pleaded guilty in federal court to obtaining Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits through false statements, admitting to receiving $45,868 in PUA payments he was not entitled to.
Mo Yuong Kang, 50, of Woburn and Dracut, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud in federal court in Boston this week. The indictment in August 2025 led to a guilty plea that will be followed by sentencing scheduled for Aug. 11, 2026. Kang faces the statutory penalties associated with wire fraud charges.
Kang worked as an Industrial Hygienist with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, from June 2016 until July 2023. While employed full time by the DOL in 2020 and 2021, Kang earned more than $85,000 annually. Federal prosecutors say those employment facts are central to the allegations that followed.
In April 2020, prosecutors allege, Kang submitted a false Pandemic Unemployment Assistance application to the Division of Unemployment Assistance in Massachusetts. In that application he claimed under penalty of perjury that he was “self-employed, an independent contractor, or a gig worker and COVID-19 has severely limited [his] ability to perform [his] normal work,” and that he had not earned more than $89 a week since March 8, 2020. The DUA approved the claim, and Kang is accused of continuing to certify weekly that he did not work or receive income through September 2021.
Based on the application and those weekly certifications, investigators say Kang received $45,868 in PUA benefits to which he was not entitled. The PUA program was created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to provide temporary unemployment assistance to people not eligible for standard state unemployment benefits. In Massachusetts, the program was administered by the Division of Unemployment Assistance and required claimants to certify whether they worked or received income during each relevant week.
The plea agreement and court filings outline the mechanics prosecutors allege were used to claim federal pandemic benefits while maintaining employment with the DOL. Kang was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2025 and admitted the wrongdoing in his plea this week. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina E. Barclay of the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit is prosecuting the case.
The charge of wire fraud carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is determined by a federal district court judge who will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable statutes in setting any punishment. The timeline now heads to the scheduled sentencing hearing on Aug. 11, 2026.
The announcement of the guilty plea was made by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley, Anthony P. D’Esposito, Inspector General, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and Christopher Silvestro, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Northeast Field Office. Those agencies were involved in investigating the alleged misuse of pandemic relief funds. The case highlights the continued focus on pandemic-era benefit fraud across federal and state systems.
The CARES Act of March 2020 established Pandemic Unemployment Assistance as a temporary federal program to help people who did not qualify for standard unemployment insurance during the COVID-19 emergency. To receive PUA, claimants had to truthfully certify initial registrations and weekly certifications regarding work and income. Prosecutors say Kang’s false claims and certifications resulted in nearly $46,000 in federal benefits being paid out improperly.
