Tampa Man Convicted Of Unemployment Fraud; Faces Federal Prison Time

TAMPA, FL — A Tampa man has been sentenced to five years and one month in federal prison after pleading guilty to creating counterfeit credit and debit cards.

Tampa U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday also ordered Devaris McClain, 30, to pay back the $92,346.54 he pleaded guilty to stealing from the U.S. Department of Labor and various financial institutions during a scam he ran from January 2015 to August 2016.

According to court documents, McClain and fellow conspirators made counterfeit credit and debit cards by obtaining prepaid gift cards, embossing them with their names and stolen identities, and then obliterating the magnetic strips on the backs of the cards to ensure employees at retail establishments would have to hand-key in the stolen account numbers embossed on the fronts of the cards.

McClain and his co-conspirators then used the cards to purchase items, including more gift cards, from retail establishments to convert to cash, according to the Department of Justice.

The DOJ said McClain also participated in a scheme to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits from various state workforce agencies. These UI benefits were transferred to bank accounts or loaded onto debit cards issued in the names of those whose identities were stolen.

In one case, McClain used a fraudulently obtained debit card in the name of a victim to withdraw $86,804 in UI benefits from ATMs, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

With a rise in unemployment benefit scams following the mass layoffs due to the coronavirus pandemic, on May 17, 2021, the U.S. Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice and other government agencies to combat pandemic-related fraud.

The task force bolstered efforts to investigate and prosecute fraud related to pandemic relief programs. In the process, the government not only uncovered fraud during the pandemic but tracked down those committing fraud prior to the pandemic.

The task force warns that "criminals will likely continue to use new methods to exploit COVID-19 worldwide and advise residents to Stay alert and stay informed about common fraud schemes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you think you are a victim of a scam or attempted fraud involving COVID-19, you can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form

This case was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Tampa Police Department.