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Linda Slade, 51, Dr. Rochelle Oaks, 66, and Keith Brown, 53, were each charged with operating a scheme to apply for PUA funding on behalf of at least 90 people, according to PA Attorney General Josh Shapiro.
Slade and Oaks submitted applications for interested participants, while Brown collected fees from the individuals to pay Oaks, Shapiro said.
Slade individually recruited and charged a fee to individuals she contacted through friends and family, Shapiro said.
She prepared 61 applications, totaling $925,273 in PUA funds.
Oaks worked with other individuals to recruit and charge applicants for her services, authorities said.
When Oaks finished completing applications, she met with a co-conspirator to be paid a fee for each application that had successfully received PUA payments, Shapiro said.
Oaks prepared 31 applications, totaling $249,227 in PUA funds.
Out of 92 total applications, investigators determined that 65 of the stated recipients are ineligible to have received benefits, Shapiro said.
The total amount of benefits paid out on the 65 ineligible applications is $884,715, authorities said.
Oaks reportedly told investigators that during the period in which she filled out PUA applications for interested individuals, she would meet with Brown to collect her payment for submitting the applications, authorities said.
Oaks would meet Brown in his car, and he would hand her cash that he had collected from applicants, authorities said. Oaks told investigators that she met with Brown approximately 12 times.
“These defendants took advantage of a program meant for everyday people whose lives were uprooted by COVID-19 to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from all of us,” said Shapiro.
“We are working overtime to track down people who undermine the public by breaking the law and committing fraud.”
They are each charged with two counts of corrupt organizations, one count of theft by deception, one count of theft by unlawful taking, one count of criminal conspiracy, and one count of tampering with records.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Katherine Wymard.
To date, the Office of Attorney General has charged 31 individuals, including 24 inmates and their accomplices, across the state for submitting fraudulent PUA applications amounting to more than $3.1 million in illegally obtained PUA funds.
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