Georgia Woman Sentenced to 12 Years for $30 Million COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud.

A Georgia woman, Tyshion Nautese Hicks, 32, of Vienna, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for her role in a staggering $30 million unemployment fraud scheme tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with an additional firearms charge.

Tyshion Nautese Hicks, 32, from Vienna, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, for defrauding the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) out of millions intended to support unemployed individuals during the crisis.

In addition to her prison sentence, Hicks will face three years of supervised release and is required to pay restitution, with the exact amount to be determined later. Her sentence also includes an additional three years for illegal possession of a machine gun, as prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

From March 2020 to November 2022, Tyshion Nautese Hicks and her accomplices submitted over 5,000 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to the GaDOL, resulting in the theft of at least $30 million in benefits. Court documents and evidence presented during the trial revealed that Hicks and her associates created fake employers and fabricated lists of supposed employees, using personally identifiable information (PII) obtained from thousands of identity theft victims.

To gather the necessary PII, the conspirators employed various methods, including bribing a healthcare employee in Atlanta to illegally access patient information from hospital databases and purchasing PII from online sources. With the stolen data, Hicks arranged for the misappropriated unemployment funds to be disbursed via prepaid debit cards to addresses of their choosing, primarily in and around Cordele and Vienna.

Additionally, Tyshion Nautese Hicks paid a local U.S. Postal Service (USPS) carrier to illegally reroute mail containing debit cards loaded with over $512,000 in fraudulent funds to her. She even instructed another co-conspirator on how to establish a fake employer account using Facebook Messenger. In February, Hicks pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. Seven of her accomplices have already pleaded guilty or received sentences related to this investigation.

Special Agent in Charge Frederick D. Houston of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Atlanta Field Office stated: "Hicks chose to commit fraud, further depleting limited funds designated to help individuals struggling to survive during the pandemic. She and her co-conspirators also stole the personally identifiable information, caring only about self-enrichment, not the lives adversely affected. This case signifies our commitment to protect citizens and businesses from fraud and identity theft. We will continue to work with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to prosecute those who abuse these programs."

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