SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Mar. 1, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A California man Thursday admitted to scamming more than $100,000 in California unemployment benefits while living and working in Utah.
Robert James Waff, 50, of Sacramento pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting wire fraud which led to defrauding the federal government of approximately $114,066 in unemployment benefits during COVID-19 while living and working in Utah, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah announced.
“He also admitted to aiding and abetting others to fraudulently apply and pay him as compensation.”
According to court documents and admissions made during his Thursday plea hearing, Waff, from June 2020 to September 2020, devised a scheme to defraud the California Employment Development Department (EDD) by applying for the Covid-19 related California unemployment benefits through the California EDD website.
Waff admitted that he applied, and aided and abetted others to apply, for unemployment benefits that were funded by the CARES Act in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, according to the press release.
Waff applied for the benefits electronically, and submitted a false address, false employment history and false income. Waff then began collecting the unemployment benefits while living and working in Utah.
Waff then assisted three others, who never worked in California, to apply electronically for the same benefits by supplying them with the same false information, prosecutors said. He then had debit cards mailed to his address in Utah.
In return for his assistance, the three individuals paid Waff a cash portion of their unemployment benefits. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 15 at the Orrin G. Hatch U.S. District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
The case is being investigated jointly by the FBI Salt Lake City Division and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (OIG).
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-disaster-complaint-form .
