COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Franklin County grand jury has agreed to indict multiple people in two separate cases involving theft of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funds.
In one of the cases, Tiffany Wilson, Erin McGoy, Lataska Minor, Nicy Minor, Aja Minor and Sherrod Thompson were indicted on 21 counts, including:
- Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and telecommunications fraud, both first-degree felonies
- Theft felonies of the first, third and fourth degree
- Tampering with records and money laundering, both third-degree felonies
Wilson was a subcontractor for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, according to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office. She was fired from her position but managed to access the computer system used to file PUA claims.
The prosecutor’s office said she altered multiple claims by changing and deleting claims information, some of it on behalf of the other suspects named in the indictment.
ODJFS noted irregular access to its system and reported it to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The Highway Patrol and the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the matter and found that the access was part of a scheme that defrauded the state’s unemployment system of more than $5 million between November 2020 and June 2021, the prosecutor’s office said.
In the other case, the grand jury indicted Lasheta McClellan and Alana Hamilton, a former ODJFS employee. The charges in the 19-count indictment include:
- Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity and telecommunications fraud, both first-degree felonies
- Theft, a second-degree felony
- Tampering with records and money laundering, a third-degree felony
- Filing incomplete, false, and fraudulent tax returns, a fifth-degree felony
McClellan and Hamilton are accused of altering multiple claims for PUA funds. Additionally, they allegedly used false information to file the claims.
The ODJFS noticed suspicious activity by Hamilton and reported the issue to the Ohio Inspector General’s Office, the Ohio State Highway Patrol and the Department of Labor.
Investigators determined that the scheme defrauded Ohio’s unemployment system of more than $4 million from May 2020 to October 2021.
