Home Economy Government Providence man pleads guilty to role in 3 fraud schemes

Providence man pleads guilty to role in 3 fraud schemes

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PBN Staff

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09/12/2024

PVMYynWF-gceDU78f-svXubYP8-courthouse — A CITY RESIDENT faces two counts of wire fraud and one of theft of public funds and money laundering after admitting his role in a three of schemes to defraud unemployment benefit programs and a property title company, U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha announced Thursday. / COURTESY U.S. DISTRICT COURT

PROVIDENCE – A city resident faces two counts of wire fraud and one of theft of public funds and money laundering after admitting to schemes to defraud unemployment benefit programs and a property title company, U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha announced Thursday. Obryan Poku, 29, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, admitting

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PROVIDENCE – A city resident faces two counts of wire fraud and one of theft of public funds and money laundering after admitting to schemes to defraud unemployment benefit programs and a property title company, U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Zachary A. Cunha announced Thursday. Obryan Poku, 29, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, admitting he participated in an international fraud scheme to defraud the federally funded pandemic unemployment compensation program of more than $70,000, and to defraud an Alabama-based property title company of an additional $80,000. According to court documents, Poku continued to collect pandemic unemployment insurance benefits from the Texas Workforce Commission when he returned to Rhode Island in June 2021 after living two years in Texas. Poku made fraudulent statements on approximately 10 occasions in the course of recertifying online benefits applications, falsely attesting that he was not receiving any other income Poku subsequently received pandemic unemployment benefits totaling $14,042 that he was not entitled to receive, according to court documents. Those benefits, according to court documents, were obtained by individuals working with Poku, using the stolen personal identification information of three individuals. The Illinois benefit payments were directed to a bank account controlled by Poku, who then wired a portion of the ill-gotten proceeds to his co-conspirators in Ghana, while keeping a portion for himself. In another scheme, Poku conspired with individuals in Ghana in an attempt to defraud an Alabama-based title company. To carry out that scheme, Poku or a member of the conspiracy sent an $80,000 check to the title company, allegedly as earnest money for a pending real estate transaction. Approximately two weeks after the check was placed in escrow by the title company, the co-conspirators sent the company an email stating that the property purchase had fallen through, requesting that the $80,000 payment be reimbursed to an investment company. Investigators determined the investment company had been created by Poku just days prior to the request for reimbursement. Shortly after the funds were transferred to Poku’s company account, the title company was notified that the original check was fraudulent and that the funds in Poku’s company’s account had been frozen. Poku then attempted to access the funds by repeatedly calling the bank and falsely stating that the funds were sent from business partners, and later, by family members. Poku is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17.