Florida Man Busted for COVID-19 Unemployment Insurance Fraud

Baltimore, MD – A federal grand jury has charged David Godin, aka ‘James St Patrick,’ aka ‘David Wetty,’ aka ‘Vic Pro,’ with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to defraud the Maryland Department of Labor and California Employment Development Department of unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the indictment, Godin, who was arrested earlier today in Florida, created disposable email addresses and used them to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims with the Maryland Department of Labor and California Employment Development Department. The claims contained false and fraudulent information and the personal identifiable information of identity theft victims from Maryland, California, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, and Washington, D.C.

Godin faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count of wire fraud and a consecutive term of 2 years’ imprisonment for aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he must also forfeit any property derived from the scheme to defraud to the United States.

The case is part of the District of Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force, a strike force established by the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud, including fraud relating to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation for their work in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bijon A. Mostoufi is prosecuting the federal case.

The U.S. Department of Justice is urging anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 to report it by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.