A Cameroonian national has been sentenced to 54 months in federal prison for her role in a scheme to defraud the United States of more than $1.7 million in unemployment insurance benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anais Thalia Ossele Massaba, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The sentencing was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, along with officials from the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG), Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Maryland.
Court documents show that between June 2020 and September 2021, Massaba worked with others to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance claims using stolen identities of U.S. citizens. The group operated from the United Kingdom and targeted state workforce agencies, including the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL).
According to investigators, Co-conspirator 1 had fled the United States in 2015 and was living under a false identity in the UK. Massaba and another co-conspirator moved to the UK in September 2019 to avoid arrest and prosecution.
Beginning in June 2020, Co-conspirator 1 organized individuals both in the U.S. and UK to file false UI claims across multiple states during the pandemic. Massaba used computers from abroad to file these claims through anonymous email addresses that allowed them to manage large numbers of fraudulent applications discreetly.
Massaba submitted at least 196 fraudulent UI claims using two anonymous email accounts, resulting in losses totaling approximately $1,708,256 for MD-DOL alone.
U.S. Attorney Hayes recognized DOL-OIG, IRS-CI, and HSI Maryland for their efforts on this case as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared M. Beim and Bijon A. Mostoufi who prosecuted it.
The District of Maryland Strike Force is one of five teams created nationwide by the Department of Justice to investigate COVID-19 relief fraud schemes involving large-scale or transnational actors targeting programs like those funded under the CARES Act.
Further information about federal efforts against pandemic-related fraud can be found at https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus . Reports about suspected COVID-19 relief fraud may be made via phone at 866-720-5721 or online at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form .
For details about resources available through the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office or ways to report fraud locally, visit justice.gov/usao-md or justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach .
