Lestreonia Renee Rodrigue, Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud, Louisiana 2020

A Plaquemine woman has been federally charged with mail fraud and wire fraud after allegedly submitting false claims for unemployment benefits and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.

Lestreonia Renee Rodrigue, 26, of Plaquemine, Louisiana, appeared in court today for her arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to the indictment, between July 2020 and June 2021, Rodrigue submitted claims for unemployment benefits in her name and in the names of other individuals in multiple states, including California, among others.

Rodrigue also submitted claims for PPP benefits in the names of fictitious businesses and based on fictitious business profits and losses.

Furthermore, Rodrigue obtained names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of others, and submitted fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits in their names, with and without their knowledge or consent.

Rodrigue used social media to obtain as many people's identifying information as possible to file as many unemployment claims as possible. Upon submitting the claims and receiving the funds, she either gave a cut of the funds to the people or kept all the funds for herself.

Throughout the course of the fraudulent schemes, Rodrigue caused $20,833.00 to be deposited into her bank account, to which she was not entitled. Additionally, Rodrigue caused over $500,000 in prepaid debit cards to be mailed to her addresses, to which she and others were not entitled.

The matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Labor, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward H. Warner and Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth White, who also serves as Deputy Criminal Chief.

An indictment is an accusation by a grand jury. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdla/pr/plaquemine-woman-indicted-mail-fraud-and-wire-fraud