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Audri Ford-Victory, age 61, of Springfield, pleaded guilty in US District Court to one count of wire fraud in connection to her involvement in a scheme with a co-conspirator to profit from the pandemic.
Prosecutors said that Ford-Victory and her co-conspirator submitted more than 100 fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims resulting in more than $1.2 million in payments.
Approximately half of the PUA claims were made on behalf of individuals residing outside of Massachusetts, prosecutors noted, and in some instances, Ford-Victory and her co-conspirator received kickback payments for doing so.
In total, the two net more than $1.2 million in fraudulent payments.
Ford-Victory was charged on Dec. 15, 2021. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, June 1, when she will face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
In March 2020, in response to the global pandemic, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act created the temporary federal unemployment insurance program PUA, which in Massachusetts is administered by the Department of Unemployment Assistance.
This program is designed to provide unemployment insurance benefits for individuals who are not eligible for other types of unemployment benefits.
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