Southfield man sentenced for ID fraud, stealing pandemic funds

A Southfield man was ordered to prison and to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution for stealing identities and pandemic aid money, as announced Aug. 24 by United States Attorney Dawn Ison.

Samuel Baker, 39, was handed the sentence Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Paul Borman in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

According to a news release from the Department of Justice, court documents show Baker submitted fraudulent applications for $370,000 in unemployment insurance benefits in Michigan and Pennsylvania for months in 2020. He also fraudulently obtained a $47,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan from the Small Business Administration.

To perpetrate the fraud, Baker submitted the bogus claims through stolen identities and had the benefits paid via debit cards. The debit cards then were used to withdraw funds from ATMs throughout metropolitan Detroit.

When Baker was arrested, $187,000 in cash, four Rolex watches and ten gold coins were seized by federal agents, the DOJ stated.

"Samuel Baker defrauded multiple state workforce agencies by filing for unemploymentinsurance benefits in the names of identity theft victims, which resulted in a loss of more than$365,000," Special Agent-in-Charge Irene Lindow stated in the news release.

Baker was ordered to pay $414,454 restitution to Michigan, Pennsylvania and the Small Business Administration. He also had to forfeit his interest in the $187,000 in cash, the Rolex watches and gold coins that were seized, according to the DOJ.

Judge again rules on whether Ethan Crumbley stays in jail or is transferred to Children's Village

Former Detroit police lieutenant from Oakland County admits to tow company bribery