Ambulai R. Sheku, Mail Fraud, Theft of Funds, Rhode Island 2023

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In a brazen scheme that bilked the state out of nearly $508,000, a former Labor & Training employee has agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud, theft of government funds, and accessing a protected computer to commit fraud.

Ambulai R. Sheku, 37, of Providence, a Senior Employment Interviewer with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (DLT), faces conspiracy to commit mail fraud, theft of government funds, and accessing a protected computer to commit fraud charges, which will be heard in federal court in Providence.

According to court documents, Sheku used his position at DLT and his authorized access to DLT computer files to participate in a scheme to make unauthorized changes to benefit recipients’ files between June 2009 and February 2015. This resulted in the fraudulent disbursement of more than $508,000 of unemployment insurance benefits.

It is alleged that Sheku changed the mailing addresses of legitimate unemployment insurance beneficiaries, causing banks to mail unemployment insurance benefits to individuals not entitled to receive them. He also extended the expiration of benefits for members of the conspiracy, caused fraudulent claims to be approved and dispersed, increased the balance of unemployment insurance benefits, and removed blocks or ‘stops’ on benefit payments, allowing coconspirators to continue receiving benefits to which they were not entitled.

The scheme resulted in a loss to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training of approximately $508,691, of which approximately $350,606 were federal funds.

Ambulai R. Sheku made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court today before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond. An information is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The matter continues to be investigated by the United States Attorney’s Office, Rhode Island State Police, and the U.S. Department of Labor, with the assistance of the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly.

Contact: Jim Martin (401) 709-5357, USARI.Media@usdoj.gov, @USAO_RI

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