TACOMA, WA – A former Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) employee is facing a 20-count indictment after allegedly masterminding a brazen scheme to steal over $360,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits. Reyes De La Cruz, III, 47, of Moses Lake, Washington, was arrested this morning and is accused of exploiting his position to line his own pockets while the state struggled under a flood of legitimate claims.
Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman didn’t mince words: “Dedicated investigators continue to build criminal cases against those who sought to unlawfully enrich themselves during our country’s pandemic crisis,” she stated. “In this case, an insider used his official access and knowledge to illegally enrich himself. Even as ESD faced the challenges of processing the high volume of legitimate claims, he chose to take advantage of his position to worsen the unprecedented fraud on unemployment benefits.”
De La Cruz, a veteran of the ESD having previously worked there from 1996 to 2003, was rehired in April 2020 as an intake agent during the pandemic surge. The indictment details a three-pronged scheme. First, De La Cruz allegedly filed fraudulent claims using the personal information of others, directing the benefits to debit cards he could easily intercept in Moses Lake. Even after his employment ended on October 1, 2020, he allegedly attempted to continue diverting funds, brazenly impersonating claimants in phone calls and even sending fraudulent faxes to ESD. This alone netted him over $110,000, prosecutors say.
But the theft didn’t stop there. The indictment further alleges De La Cruz accepted bribes – kickbacks – in exchange for approving benefits for friends, family, and acquaintances who were otherwise ineligible. He allegedly manipulated the ESD database to trigger lump-sum, retroactive payments, sometimes amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, pocketing a cut of the ill-gotten gains. And for those who balked at paying, De La Cruz allegedly resorted to extortion, threatening to terminate their claims if they didn’t hand over a portion of their benefits. He personally enriched himself by at least $130,000, and the total fraudulent payout exceeds $360,000.
The ESD initially uncovered the fraud, terminated De La Cruz, and promptly referred the case to the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG). The FBI quickly joined the investigation, with assistance from the Moses Lake Police Department and Washington State Department of Corrections during this morning’s arrest. De La Cruz is charged with six counts of wire fraud, nine counts of bribery of an agent of an organization receiving federal funds, one count of extortion under color of official right, and four counts of aggravated identity theft. Wire fraud related to a declared disaster or emergency carries a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Bribery carries a 10-year maximum, and the extortion charge also carries a significant penalty.
De La Cruz is expected to make his initial appearance in Spokane on Monday, with a subsequent appearance scheduled in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. This case serves as a stark reminder that even within agencies overwhelmed by crisis, the potential for individual greed and corruption remains a constant threat. The investigation is ongoing, and authorities haven’t ruled out the possibility of additional charges or co-conspirators.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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