A New Hampshire man has been indicted in a fraud scheme that prosecutors say stole more than $700,000 from California’s unemployment department during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A federal grand jury on Thursday returned a 10-count indictment against Anthony Mark Silva, 40, charging him with nine counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California said in a press release.
Prosecutors say that between July 2020 and June 2021, Silva collected personal information, including names, birth dates and Social Security numbers from numerous individuals and used it to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims through California’s Employment Development Department (EDD). The applications sought benefits under the federal CARES Act, including Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
According to court documents, Silva claimed the individuals had recently lost work or were unable to find employment due to the pandemic. In reality, prosecutors say, many of the people were not unemployed, were not eligible for California benefits, or had no idea their information was being used.
EDD approved dozens of the applications and issued Bank of America debit cards loaded with unemployment benefits, which prosecutors allege Silva spent on himself. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the scheme caused more than $700,000 in losses to the state and federal government.
If convicted, Silva faces up to 30 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine for each bank fraud count, prosecutors said. He also faces a mandatory two-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft count, which must be served consecutively to any time sentenced on the other counts.