Daniel Maleus, Wire Fraud, Massachusetts 2020

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Stoneham Man Indicted for COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud Scheme

BOSTON – A Stoneham man has been indicted on charges related to a scheme to obtain COVID-19-related unemployment assistance, according to federal authorities.

Daniel Maleus, 33, is accused of filing and conspiring with others to file fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) claims in the names of other people, allegedly obtaining over $250,000 in payments between April 2020 and April 2021.

The charges against Maleus include one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft, with the latter carrying a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutively to any other sentence imposed.

The PUA program, administered by the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance, provides unemployment insurance benefits for individuals who are not eligible for other types of unemployment benefits, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) passed in March 2020.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell, Joseph R. Bonavolanta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division, and Nikitas Splagounias, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Investigations, made the announcement, with assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Markham of Mendell’s Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case, which has ties to the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force established by the Attorney General in May 2021 to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.

Individuals with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the 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.