22-Year-Old Westchester Man Guilty In COVID Relief Fraud Scheme

YONKERS, NY — A Westchester man who took advantage of safety nets put in place during the pandemic took a plea deal on federal charges that will see him reimburse tens of thousands of dollars in ill-gotten gains.

Errol Murray, 22, of Yonkers, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to defraud the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) by obtaining unemployment insurance benefits using the names of other people, including federal benefits put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman; NYS Inspector General Lucy Lang; Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the Boston Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge, Northeast Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG).

One of the ringleaders, Jamie Johnson previously pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining $701,441 in unemployment insurance benefits as part of the scheme.

Murray admitted to the court that he provided Johnson with his personal identifying information and the personal identifying information of an acquaintance, which Johnson then used to file false claims through the NYSDOL website.

Murray also admitted that as a result of the two fraudulent applications submitted by Johnson, the NYSDOL paid $69,954 in unemployment insurance benefits.

As part of his plea agreement, Murray agreed to pay $69,954 in restitution to the state.

Murray faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to three years when he is sentenced on September 14.

More information on the Department of Justice’s response to the pandemic, can be found here.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.