COVID Relief Fund Fraud Charges Filed Against 6 Philly-Area Residents

PHILADELPHIA — Six Philadelphia-area residents have been accused of stealing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance funds in two separate fraud cases, federal authorities said.

According to authorities, Wylene Johnson, 41, of Chester; Cookie Bundy, 41, of Philadelphia; Hakeem Cooper, 42, of Philadelphia; Louis Barnett, 43, of Philadelphia; Barry Mitchell, 33, of Philadelphia; and Tameka Edmonds, 32, of Marcus Hook; were charged with various Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) fraud-related offenses in two separate Indictments.

In the first Indictment, Johnson, Bundy, Cooper, Barnett, and Mitchell are each charged with four counts of mail fraud and one count of theft of government money in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent PUA applications.

As part of the scheme, the four allegedly submitted (or caused to be submitted) nearly 100 fraudulent applications, resulting in a loss to the government of nearly $1 million dollars, according to authorities.

All applications submitted as part of this scheme listed Johnson’s former address in Philadelphia as the mailing address for benefits, authorities said.

After the benefits were mailed to this address, those charged allegedly accessed either the checks or debit cards issued on the applications, according to authorities.

In addition to the PUA scheme, Johnson, Barnett, and Mitchell are also each charged with three counts of theft of government money for allegedly submitting fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications to the Small Business Administration for businesses which did not exist, authorities said.

As a result of these fraudulent applications, Johnson allegedly received approximately $52,000 dollars from the SBA which she allegedly spent on personal items, according to authorities.

Barnett and Mitchell also allegedly received emergency advances from the SBA which they spent on personal items, authorities said.

In October 2022, when law enforcement agents from the United States Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security Investigations arrested Bundy and Mitchell for the charges in this Indictment, firearms and ammunition were recovered from both of their residences, according to authorities

Bundy and Mitchell were then charged with illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition as previously convicted felons, authorities said.

In the second fraud Indictment, Edmonds is charged with three counts of mail fraud and three counts of theft of government money for allegedly submitting fraudulent PUA, EIDL, and Paycheck Protect Program (‘PPP’) applications.

Edmonds is also charged with spending the EIDL and PPP funds on personal items.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law.

The CARES Act created the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which provides unemployment benefits to individuals not eligible for regular unemployment compensation or extended unemployment benefits, including individuals, families, and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eligibility to receive weekly PUA benefits is predicated on an applicant’s unemployment for reasons related to the pandemic, and it requires that the applicant was able to work each day and, if offered a job, would have been able to accept it.

Once an applicant is approved to receive benefits, the applicant is required to submit weekly certifications indicating that he or she: was ready, willing and able to work each day; was seeking full time employment; did not refuse any job offers or referrals; and had reported any employment during the week and the gross pay or other payments received.