Accountant from Rio Arriba County Guilty of $1.3M Unemployment Scam

Accountant from Rio Arriba County Guilty of $1.3M Unemployment Scam

ALBUQUERQUE – Jasonn Gonzales, a 41-year-old accountant from Velarde, New Mexico, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges in connection with a scheme to defraud the federal and state unemployment insurance system.

According to the indictment, Gonzales and his co-defendant, Gerald Archuleta, 43, of Ojo Caliente, New Mexico, defrauded the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment of more than $1,356,000 between 2009 and 2012. The scheme involved making false and fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits in the names of real people.

Gonzales and Archuleta allegedly perpetuated their unlawful scheme by fraudulently registering numerous non-existent companies with the three state workforce agencies and filing false quarterly reports for the fictitious companies. They then made false and fraudulent claims for unemployment benefit claims on behalf of the claimed employees of the fictitious companies.

The indictment alleges that Gonzales and Archuleta opened post office boxes in New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado, which they provided to the three state workforce agencies as mailing addresses for the claimed employees. The state agencies mailed debit cards to the claimed employees at the post office boxes, and the defendants allegedly used the debit cards to withdraw the fraudulently obtained benefits.

Gonzales pleaded guilty to all six counts of the indictment, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He also admitted to the forfeiture provisions of the indictment and to the entry of an $801,848 money judgment against him.

Gonzales faces a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the conspiracy charge and each of the five mail fraud charges. He also will be sentenced to a two-year mandatory prison sentence to be served consecutive to any sentence imposed on the conspiracy and mail fraud charges.

Archuleta has entered a not guilty plea to the indictment, and charges in indictments are merely accusations until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The case was investigated by the Department of Labor.