Avon Store Manager Charged With Unemployment Fraud

AVON, CT — A Hartford man was arrested Tuesday and charged with illegally collecting nearly $9,000 in unemployment compensation benefits when he was, in fact, working at an Avon department store, prosecutors said.

Ernesto Ramos, 41, of Park Terrace, Hartford, was arrested by inspectors from the Unemployment Compensation Fraud Unit for the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, prosecutors said.

He was charged with one count each of first-degree larceny by defrauding a public community and unemployment compensation fraud, prosecutors said.

The arrest is the result of an investigation into a complaint by the Connecticut Department of Labor, which administers unemployment benefits.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Ramos fraudulently collected approximately $8,745 in unemployment benefits from October 2015 through March 2016 while he was employed and earning wages as a supervisor at an Avon department store.

Ramos was released on a $10,000 non-surety bond and is scheduled to appear in New Britain Superior Court on Wednesday, according to the warrant.

Larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community is a Class B felony punishable by not less than one year nor more than 20 years in prison and/or up to a $15,000 fine. Unemployment compensation fraud in excess of $500 is a Class D felony punishable by not less than 1 year nor more than 5 years in prison and/or up to a $5,000 fine.

The case is being prosecuted by the Unemployment Compensation Fraud Unit, which was established under a partnership between the Division of Criminal Justice and the Department of Labor to investigate and prosecute fraud in the Unemployment Compensation program. It is financed with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Labor.

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