Perth Amboy Man Sentenced to 30 Months for COVID-19 Unemployment Scam

NEWARK, N.J. – A Middlesex County man was sentenced to 30 months in prison for stealing over $400,000 in COVID-19 unemployment benefits, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Christopher Valerio, 33, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Valerio and his conspirators submitted false and fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance benefits to the New York Department of Labor through fictitious online profiles.

Between July 2020 and February 2021, Valerio and his co-conspirators used personally identifiable information of other individuals to create fake profiles and obtain debit cards with illegally obtained funds totaling $444,738. The money was used for personal gain.

Valerio’s co-conspirator, Yanira Abreu of Keasby, New Jersey, pleaded guilty on September 12, 2023, and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 9, 2024. A third conspirator, Jose Tavares of New York, is still pending charges.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their work in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fatime Meka Cano of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

Valerio was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture, each in the amount of $444,728. The sentence was imposed by Judge Kirsch in Newark federal court.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s 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.

The District of New Jersey COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force is one of five strike forces established throughout the United States to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike forces focus on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud perpetrated by criminal organizations and transnational actors.

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