Nelson Roche Diaz, COVID Unemployment Fraud, Massachusetts 2020

Brockton Man Pleads Guilty to COVID Unemployment Fraud Scheme

BOSTON – Nelson Roche Diaz, 29, of Brockton, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to submitting fraudulent information in an effort to obtain unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.

According to the investigation, Roche Diaz and his co-conspirator, Dominik Manigo, submitted fraudulent claims for PUA on the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance portal in May 2020. They also submitted fake letters claiming the pandemic had impacted their employment at a restaurant in Boston, but neither Roche Diaz nor Manigo ever worked at the restaurant.

As a result of their scheme, Roche Diaz and Manigo each received over $43,000 in PUA and related funds. Manigo pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in July 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18, 2025.

Roche Diaz pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy and one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Myong J. Joun scheduled sentencing for January 13, 2026.

The charges of wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes that govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

A number of law enforcement agencies participated in the investigation, including the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, Labor Racketeering and Fraud, Northeast Region, Homeland Security Investigations in New England, the Massachusetts State Police, the Boston Police Department, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel R. Feldman of the Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit is prosecuting the case.

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