Stanley Fertil, Identity Theft and Unemployment Insurance Fraud, Mi…

Miami-Dade County brothers Stanley Fertil, 20, and Steven Fertil, 19, have been handed down heavy sentences for their role in a massive identity theft and unemployment insurance fraud scheme.

United States Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer announced that the pair were sentenced to 111 months and 148 months in federal prison, respectively, followed by three years of supervised release. They are also required to pay $815,700.00 in restitution.

Court records reveal that the Fertil brothers conspired to obtain the personal identifying information (PII) of over four thousand individuals. This PII included names, dates of birth, and social security numbers. The brothers then used over 600 of these identities to fraudulently receive unemployment claims totaling approximately $815,700.

Victims of this scheme spanned both the public and private sectors, highlighting the far-reaching impact of their criminal activities.

In addition to the prison terms and restitution, the brothers each pled guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan E. Kobrinski prosecuted this case.

U.S. Attorney Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, the State of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity, and the Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) Public Corruption Unit for their work on this case.

The press release is available on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls, and related court documents can be found on the District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s website at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.