Prince George’s County man gets 6 years for CARES Act fraud conspiracy

A Prince George’s County, Maryland, man was sentenced to six years in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy that fraudulently obtained more than $3.5 million in CARES Act-era unemployment insurance benefits, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland announced.

District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Terry Chen, 26, to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Judge Boardman also ordered Chen to pay $1 million in restitution and imposed a $1 million criminal forfeiture.

U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes announced the sentence alongside Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony P. D’Esposito and FBI Baltimore Field Office Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul. The prosecution is part of the Trump administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

According to court documents, beginning in May 2021 and continuing through June 2022, Chen and co-conspirators carried out an identity theft scheme targeting the United States, the state of Maryland, multiple financial institutions and numerous individuals. The group submitted false unemployment insurance claims to the Maryland Department of Labor, which is responsible for processing such claims. As part of the conspiracy, the co-conspirators fraudulently obtained more than $3.5 million in unemployment insurance benefits.

Two of Chen’s co-conspirators — Bryan Nushawn Ruffin, 28, of Woodbridge, Virginia, and Kiara Smith, 28, of Fort Washington, Maryland — were employed by a company that provided professional support services to the Maryland Department of Labor, including customer support and fraud detection. Smith provided a company-issued laptop to Chen and others, enabling the group to access and alter non-public unemployment insurance data and state-maintained databases, which allowed them to maximize payouts on fraudulent claims.

The conspirators altered contact email addresses, online account passwords and payment methods on existing claims using stolen personal identifying information. They also used their database access to upload and approve fraudulent supporting documents, remove fraud holds and certify weeks of benefits. State officials believed they were disbursing benefits to legitimate applicants, but the accounts were controlled by Chen and his associates.

Judge Boardman previously sentenced Lawrence Nathanial Harris, 32, of Temple Hills, Maryland, Ahmed Hussain, 23, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, and Zakria Hussain, 28, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, to federal prison terms of 180 months, 102 months and 36 months, respectively. Ruffin and Smith received sentences of 27 months and 42 months, respectively.

The case was investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry M. Gruber and Joseph L. Wenner prosecuted the case.