Rensselaer County men plead guilty to unemployment insurance fraud conspiracy

Two men from Rensselaer County pleaded guilty this week to engaging in a fraudulent scheme to obtain more than $100,000 in unemployment insurance benefits under the names of other people, including benefits funded by the federal government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of his guilty plea to conspiracy and mail fraud charges, Taquan Parker, 26, of Rensselaer, admitted that he provided Kahleke Taylor, a/k/a “Flex,” with the personal identifying information of two other people, which Taylor used to file false claims online with the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL). Parker further admitted that as a result of the fraudulent applications submitted by Taylor, the NYSDOL paid out $60,132 in unemployment insurance benefits. Parker agreed to pay $60,132 in restitution to the State of New York and forfeit $30,000 in fraud proceeds that he personally obtained.

Also as part of his guilty plea to conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud charges, Olajuwon Sutherland, a/k/a “Suave,” age 27, of Troy, admitted that he also provided Taylor with the personal identifying information of two other people, which Taylor used to file false claims online with the NYSDOL. Sutherland further admitted that as a result of the fraudulent applications submitted by Taylor, the NYSDOL paid out $48,008 in unemployment insurance benefits. Sutherland agreed to pay $48,008 in restitution to the State of New York and forfeit $12,000 in fraud proceeds that he personally obtained.

Taylor previously pled guilty to fraudulently obtaining $207,004 in unemployment insurance benefits as part of the scheme.

At sentencing, both Parker and Sutherland face a maximum term of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. Parker and Sutherland are scheduled to be sentenced on July 6 and July 12, 2023, respectively, by United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the Department’s response to the pandemic, visit https://www. justice.gov/coronavirus

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/ disaster-fraud/ncdf-disastercomplaint-form.