Philadelphia, PA: An individual who had formerly worked for Social Security was found guilty of defrauding the government out of over two hundred thousand dollars in unemployment benefits through pandemic aid.
Takiyah Gordon Austin, who was formerly of Wilkes Barre and is now 47 years old, was punished for illegally claiming unemployment benefits connected to COVID-19 emergency relief monies, as stated by United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam.
Austin served as a claims specialist for the Social Security Administration from May 2020 to May 2021. During that time, she was responsible for filing Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims on behalf of claimants who did not fulfill the conditions in exchange for financial assistance.
According to the investigators, Austin submitted claims while accessing SSA databases to obtain personal information from persons who were unaware of the situation. After that, she redirected the monies from the unemployment benefits to addresses that she controlled to spend the money for her own needs.
Employing the scam, Austin was able to swindle the government an amount exceeding $288,000.
Back in February of 2023, Austin entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
A sentence of thirty-six months in jail that will be followed by three years of monitoring has been handed down to her.