Diameter Akala, Unemployment Benefits Fraud, Maryland 2023

Baltimore, Maryland - In a shocking case of unemployment benefits fraud, Diameter Akala, a 43-year-old man from Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty to a scheme that saw him and his co-conspirators fraudulently obtain over $1.4 million in unemployment benefits.

According to his plea agreement, from 2012 to 2015, Akala and his co-conspirators caused the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR) and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) to issue fraudulent unemployment benefits in the names of individuals by submitting false applications for monetary benefits. Akala enlisted his friends and family members to join him in the scheme.

Members of the conspiracy obtained the personally identifying information (PII) of individuals, including Maryland residents. Akala filed false documentation with DLLR and DLI in the names of fictitious companies, falsely stating that the fictitious companies employed and paid wages to actual individuals. In fact, no unemployment insurance taxes were ever paid to DLLR or DLI in the names of the fictitious companies.

Akala and other members of the conspiracy used residential mailing addresses of co-conspirators in Maryland, New York, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to register and receive correspondence for the fictitious companies, and apply for and receive unemployment benefits in the form of prepaid debit cards. In exchange for the use of their addresses, the co-conspirators received funds obtained through the fraud, typically in the form of a fraudulently obtained prepaid debit card.

Co-conspirators Wilfred Mendez, Tawana McClain, Ferny Alexander Moreno Puente, Wilfredo Torres, and his half-brother, Eric Gonzalez, admitted that they agreed to have Akala file fraudulent unemployment claims in their names. Mendez, Moreno Puente, and Torres also provided the personal identification information and/or addresses of other individuals to file additional false claims in the names of those individuals, and others.

The actual loss was approximately $1.4 million. Akala's sentencing is pending, but he faces up to 20 years in prison.

This case was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Robin Blake, of the Washington Regional Office, U.S. Department of Labor - Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations; and Postal Inspector in Charge Maria L. Kelokates of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/leader-admits-scheme-fraudulently-obtain-over-14-million-unemployment-benefits