Trio accused of fraudulent pandemic relief claims
Authorities say a woman, her son, and a Northampton County Jail inmate conspired to use personal information from other inmates to make fraudulent pandemic unemployment claims of more than $72,000.
Charity Larusso, 48, and co-defendants Cole Hade, 24, and Dominic Ciufo, 31, all of Northampton County, each are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, five counts of mail fraud and one count of theft of public money.
The charges come after a federal grand jury indictment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Specially appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Turzyn of the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office arraigned Larusso on Friday.
There is an active arrest warrant for Hade, who is Larusso’s son. Ciufo is in New Jersey State Prison on an unrelated charge.
The grand jury found that from June 10, 2020 to Aug. 24, 2020, the defendants conspired with others in a scheme to defraud state and federal agencies and to obtain money and property through false pretenses.
According to authorities:
While he was incarcerated in Northampton County Jail, Ciufo collected the personal information of other inmates for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance applications, then provided the information to Larusso and Hale or had the inmates do it directly.
Larusso and Hale then filed fraudulent PUA applications and received U.S. bank debit cards, which they used to make purchases, withdraw cash or transfer money to other bank accounts. They also deposited money in the commissary accounts of the inmates who had given them information.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, which administered the PUA program, approved the applications and disbursed at least $72,021, officials said.
“White-collar crime is not taken lightly in any circumstance,” Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck said. “These defendants organized a scheme to not only take the personal information of incarcerated individuals but to selfishly use the money they received for themselves.”