An Albany man has admitted his role in a scheme to defraud pandemic relief funds, using stolen identities to claim unemployment benefits and illegally cashing Treasury checks. Collins Bozil, 26, pleaded guilty to charges including wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and forging Treasury check endorsements, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York announced.
From April 2020 to April 2021, Bozil fraudulently obtained over $143,000 in unemployment benefits after purchasing personal identifying information (PII) in cryptocurrency of five individuals, Bozil then filed false claims with the New York State Department of Labor using these stolen identities, in an operation that seemingly spanned a full year and harvested benefits meant for those legitimately in need during an unprecedented time of economic strife.
Bozil also acquired and falsely endorsed five stolen tax refund checks, totaling more than $9,000, depositing them into his own bank accounts; as part of his plea, he has agreed to repay the State of New York $143,178, the United States Department of Treasury $3,225, and the victims $6,075 for the theft of their identities, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Bozil's plea could result in a sentence ranging from at least 2 years to a maximum of 20, alongside a possible fine reaching up to $250,000 and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years, his eventual fate to be decided by the judge based on several factors including the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the initial announcement detailed the collaborative investigation led by USDOL-OIG, USSS, and TIGTA with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew M. Paulbeck and Joseph S. Hartunian prosecuting.
