Hayden O’Byrne United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida | The Florida Bar
A man from Orlando, Florida, has been sentenced in South Florida to a federal prison term of almost six years for orchestrating a scheme that resulted in over $4 million being defrauded from California's Employment Development Department. The court has also ordered him to repay over $1.2 million in restitution.
Zachary Kameron Ramyard, age 23, admitted to a wire fraud conspiracy charge last October. Between August 2020 and August 2022, Ramyard and accomplices submitted fraudulent unemployment insurance claims to the department using personal information they had illegally acquired. They created fake driver licenses with this information to file at least 68 fraudulent applications. Ramyard then withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars using fraudulent debit cards at ATMs in various states. He used part of the funds to purchase luxury items, including diamond-studded "grills."
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne, Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations Miami, and Special Agent in Charge Mathew Broadhurst of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Southeast Region. The investigation was conducted by HSI Miami and the DOL-OIG, with prosecution led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Egozi and asset forfeiture handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Paster.
The fraud took place in the context of expanded unemployment programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initiatives like the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation Program were introduced to support those financially affected by the pandemic.
In response to these types of fraud, the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force was established in May 2021 to combat pandemic-related fraud. Furthermore, the Southern District of Florida’s U.S. Attorney’s Office was selected to lead a COVID-19 Fraud Strike Force to tackle such issues.
Information regarding fraud can be reported through the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or their web complaint form. Relevant court documents are available on the Southern District of Florida's website.
