RICHLAND, Wash.-A Richland man has been charged with stealing over $339,000 in COVID relief funds.
Gilbert Orosco was charged with ten counts of conspiracy, fraud and identity theft on Aug. 21 when a federal grand jury returned an indictment in the Eastern District of Washington.
“Many people who lost their jobs during the pandemic were dependent on COVID-19 relief programs for financial support during an unprecedented time of uncertainty,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Waldref.
Orosco defrauded the governments of California, Nevada and Arizona to obtain money from COVID relief programs, including unemployment insurance, according to the Department of Justice.
According to the indictment, Orosco created and submitted false and fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance on behalf of individuals who were not seeking or eligible for the benefits between July of 2020 and Dec. 2021.
Based on the fraudulent applications, the states then mailed debit cards to Orosco’s home in Richland and he then used the debit cards to withdraw cash that he converted into cryptocurrency.
According to a Department of Justice press release, Orosco used the debit cards in other people’s names to make 347 ATM withdrawals totaling approximately $282,814, as well as another $57,095 at various stores.
