A man from Marion, Iowa, has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison for receiving over $13,000 in fraudulently obtained CARES Act unemployment funds.
Brian Lynn Whorton, age 55, received the prison term after a January 25, 2021 guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.
Information from sentencing and a criminal complaint showed that Whorton received over $13,000 in unemployment funds to which he was not entitled from the State of Arizona. Whorton withdrew some of the funds in cash and used a Bitcoin ATM to send the funds to other participants in the scheme. Whorton kept some of the funds for himself.
Whorton was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Whorton was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment. He was ordered to make $13,740 in restitution to the Arizona Department of Economic Security. He must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
On September 10, 2021, Whorton is to surrender to the United States Marshal. Whorton was released on the bond previously set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kyndra Lundquist and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in unemployment benefits fraud cases. To combat this, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force in May 2021. The task force aims to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Related Federal Cases
- Alvin Lavon Rex, COVID-19 Unemployment Benefits Theft, IA 2024 · Washington
- Thaddeus Jerome Lee, Bank Fraud, Iowa 2024 · Washington
- Thaddeus Jerome Lee, $15M Bank Fraud, Iowa 2024 · Washington
- Roy L. Layne Pleads Guilty to COVID Loan Fraud and Tax Fraud, St. David AZ, 2024 · Washington
- Charles Arthur Ruhl, Jr., Wire Fraud and Money Laundering, Iowa 2013 · Iowa
Key Facts
- State: Iowa
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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