PROVIDENCE – A West Warwick man has been indicted in an alleged conspiracy to fraudulently apply for COVID-related unemployment funds.
Richard Allen, 56, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in U.S. District Court to federal charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and theft of government money, the Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors say Allen and other members of the conspiracy used stolen personal identifying information of other individuals to file for benefits.
Charging documents allege that Allen communicated with co-conspirators to activate benefit debit cards, withdrew funds and sent a portion of those funds to co-conspirators, including via Bitcoin transactions. U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General databases show checks and debit cards in the names of other persons with at least $58,734 in unemployment and expanded COVID benefits were mailed to Allen’s address.
The indictment also alleges that Allen, while conspiring to receive debit cards and checks with fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits, also fraudulently received payments from the Social Security Administration.
