Four defendants, Chanette Lewis, Tatiana Benjamin, Tatiana Daniel, and Heaven West, have been charged in a scheme that defrauded New York City’s COVID-19 Hotel Room Isolation Program of more than $400,000, prosecutors announced yesterday. Lewis was also charged with a second COVID-19 scheme involving unemployment benefits fraud.
According to the allegations, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, New York City designed a program to provide hotel rooms, free of cost, for qualifying individuals who could not safely self-isolate in their own homes, such as healthcare workers and individuals infected with COVID-19. The defendants allegedly abused this program by falsely claiming to be healthcare workers and by selling hotel rooms to non-qualifying individuals.
“At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, New York City designed a program to provide hotel rooms, free of cost, for qualifying individuals who could not safely self-isolate in their own homes, such as healthcare workers and individuals infected with COVID-19,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss. “As alleged, the defendants abused this program by falsely claiming to be healthcare workers and by selling hotel rooms to non-qualifying individuals. When, as alleged here, people illicitly exploit a public health crisis for private gain, they will find themselves facing criminal charges.”
DOI Commissioner Margaret Garnett added, “During the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, while this City grappled with soaring transmission and death rates, these defendants exploited the very City-run program meant to provide respite and isolation to healthcare workers and City residents desperately trying to find space to quarantine and stem the spread of the virus, according to the charges. These defendants shamelessly posted their illegal conduct on social media and sold personal identification information of medical professionals to further their scheme, which siphoned more than $400,000 in hotel rooms paid for by the City and federal governments, according to the criminal complaint.”
Lewis and Daniel were arrested yesterday in New York and will be presented before Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker in Manhattan federal court. West was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be presented before Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas in the Northern District of Georgia. Benjamin remains at large.
The Unemployment Insurance Program exists to provide needed assistance to qualified individuals who are unemployed due to no fault of their own, said DOL-OIG Special Agent-in-Charge Jonathan Mellone. “Fraud against the Unemployment Insurance Program distracts state workforce agencies from ensuring benefits go to individuals who are eligible to receive them. The Office of Inspector General will continue to work closely with our many law enforcement partners, to investigate those who exploit the Unemployment Insurance Program.”
The COVID-19 Hotel Room Isolation Program (the “Program”) was open to: (1) healthcare workers who needed to isolate because of exposure to COVID-19; (2) patients who had tested positive for COVID-19; (3) individuals who believed, based on their symptoms, that they were infected with COVID-19; and (4) individuals who lived with someone who had COVID-19.
“The Unemployment Insurance Program exists to provide needed assistance to qualified individuals who are unemployed due to no fault of their own,” Mellone said. “Fraud against the Unemployment Insurance Program distracts state workforce agencies from ensuring benefits go to individuals who are eligible to receive them.”
The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor. The investigation was conducted by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Labor, with assistance from the New York City Department of Investigation.
Related Federal Cases
- Unidentified Banker Charged with $5M Fraud Scheme, USA, 2023 · Alabama
- Monterey Finance, Predatory Lending Scheme, New York NY, 2023 · New York
- Marc Henry Menard, Investment Fraud Scheme, Mineola NY, 2023 · Puerto Rico
- Marc Henry Menard, Investment Fraud Scheme, New York, 2023 · Puerto Rico
- Lambert Family Members Sentenced for Public Corruption Scheme, GREA… · Texas
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News