Midlothian woman sentenced in $1.8M COVID-19 fraud scheme
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. (WWBT) - A Midlothian woman was sentenced to over 5 years in prison on Tuesday for a $1.8M COVID-19 fraud scheme.
According to court documents, Sadie Mitchell, 30, and a co-conspirator filed at least 20 fake unemployment applications to the Virginia Employment Commission using inmates’ information.
“Among the false information included in these applications were false physical addresses, false last employers, and a false certification that the inmates were ready, willing, and able to work in the event employment became available,” a release said.
Prosecutors said Mitchell filed additional fraudulent applications using individuals’ information she got as an employee of the Virginia Motor Vehicle Dealer Board.
“Through this fraud scheme, the conspirators obtained approximately $1 million in PUA and Unemployment Insurance benefits,” a release said.
According to a release, Mitchell also filed fake applications with the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan.
Mitchell was sentenced on Tuesday, Sept. 13 to 70 months in prison for defrauding the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) Program, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.
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