Dquintz Alexander, Wire Fraud, Massachusetts 2020

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Rhode Island Man Charged in $450,000 Unemployment Fraud Scheme

A Rhode Island man has been arrested and charged with participating in a scheme to obtain over $450,000 in COVID-19-related unemployment assistance.

Dquintz Alexander, 34, of Cranston, R.I., was indicted on five counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Alexander was released on conditions following an initial appearance in the Eastern District of Michigan this afternoon and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

According to the charging documents, Alexander participated in a scheme that obtained over $450,000 in proceeds from fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims submitted between April and June 2020 in Massachusetts. Alexander and co-conspirator Norman Higgs allegedly opened bank accounts to receive payments on the fraudulent PUA claims. It is alleged that Alexander and Higgs used various methods to hide their identities in an effort to conceal the scheme, including Virtual Private Network (VPN) services, overseas email accounts and phone numbers from Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

On Sept. 17, 2021, Higgs pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17, 2021.

The charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of aggravated identity theft provides for a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, made the announcement today. The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Markham of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus