3 South Jersey Men Charged In Pandemic Unemployment Money Scheme

HARRISBURG, PA — Three men from southern New Jersey have been charged by Pennsylvania officials for allegedly submitting false pandemic unemployment claims, officials say.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's office has charged several dozen people to date, and nine people recently, with illegally obtaining pandemic unemployment assistance money.

Included in these charges are Jose Thomas, 43 of Sicklerville, Shammiere Lackey, 28, of Pennsville; and Adrian Hambrick, 38, of Salem.

People from Delaware and Georgia were also listed in this latest round of charges, a press release said.

Seven of the nine people listed in the criminal complaint "claimed to have worked for the same trucking company between January 2020 and March 2020, and claimed that their employment ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic," though this was not true, according to the Pennsylvania AG.

"The alleged co-conspirators are believed to have filed 145 false applications, many of which using a Chester address, that resulted in $925,273 in allegedly false unemployment claims, $455,513 of which was paid out to these defendants," a news release said.