Woman arrested for stealing thousands of Covid relief money in scam, SC sheriff says [The State]

State (Columbia, SC)

A woman was arrested for scamming the government out of thousands of dollars of Covid relief money, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.

Jennifer Roberts, 38, was charged with obtaining signature or property under false pretenses, value $10,000 or more, the sheriff’s department said in a news release that was also shared by the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

Roberts defrauded the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce of about $60,000 by fraudulently obtaining federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits, according to the release.

The case began in October 2022 when the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce requested the sheriff’s department to investigate possible false pretenses and forgery.

The investigation revealed that Roberts had obtained the illicit funds after she used falsified documents and affirmations to claim she was unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, thus, qualified to receive the undue funds, the sheriff’s department said.

Roberts was cooperative and confessed to perpetrating the entire scheme and eventually turned herself in and was arrested on May 31, according to the release.

There was no word what, if anything, Roberts did with money.

“DEW is committed to ensuring the integrity of South Carolina’s unemployment insurance program by providing benefits only to workers who lose their job through no fault of their own,” Executive Director William Floyd said in the release. “We are thankful for Sheriff (Leon) Lott and his great team at the sheriff’s department for their efforts in this case.”

For information about how to report claimant and employer fraud, including identity theft and imposter claims, go to dew.sc.gov/individuals/unemployment-insurance-fraud.

“Please come knock on our door before we knock on yours,” Lott said in the release. “Having police cars show up to the homes of people who’ve simply had lapses in good judgment is not how we prefer to handle things.”

Anybody wishing to self-report similar thefts are urged to contact the sheriff’s department, calling CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submitting an online tip.