Ardavan Alamoutinia, 33, of Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty on Mar. 25 before United States District Judge Juan R. Sánchez to charges related to a scheme that defrauded emergency COVID-19 relief funds, according to United States Attorney David Metcalf.
The case is significant as it involves the fraudulent acquisition of funds intended for individuals affected by the pandemic. Prosecutors say such schemes undermine public trust and divert resources from those in need.
Court filings state that Alamoutinia and co-defendant Aryanah Davison used stolen identities to file over 500 fraudulent applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) across 27 states. The applications used at least 375 identities belonging to current or former employees of a company whose information was stolen by a co-conspirator and transferred to Davison. The resulting loss to the government is estimated at no less than $2,886,876.
Authorities said Alamoutinia and Davison converted at least $2.5 million from the fraudulent proceeds for personal use, including purchasing a luxury sports vehicle and investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Alamoutinia faces sentencing on July 9 with a maximum possible sentence of up to 232 years in prison. Davison previously pleaded guilty in January last year and will be sentenced later; she also faces up to 232 years’ imprisonment.
The investigation was conducted by several federal agencies including the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Inspection Service, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Inspector General, and Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney S. Chandler Harris is prosecuting the case.
