A former U.S. Department of Labor employee is facing charges of wire fraud for allegedly scamming the system out of more than $40,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Mo Yuong Kang, 50, who had been employed as an Industrial Hygienist with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from June 2016 until July 2023, purportedly claimed he was a gig worker hindered by COVID-19 to obtain funds from the pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) program.
The indictment obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office reveals that Kang, during 2020 and 2021, worked full-time at the DOL, earning salaries of $86,667 and $90,738, respectively. Despite this, he reportedly filed a PUA application in April 2020, where he declared, under the penalty of perjury, that he was "self-employed, an independent contractor, or a gig worker and COVID-19 has severely limited [his] ability to perform [his] normal work," and that he had not earned more than $89 a week since March 8, 2020. Consequently, the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) granted his claim and Kang is said to have falsely certified, that he had no income during this time.
This fraudulent activity led to Kang collecting $45,868 in benefits he was not entitled to, according to the announcement made by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The PUA program was put in place by the CARES Act to provide unemployment benefits to those not qualifying for standard unemployment benefits. To receive these assists, applicants had to certify whether they worked or had any income during the timeframe in question.
Kang is now subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 if convicted. However, it's essential to note that the charges are only allegations, and Kang is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina E. Barclay of the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit, with announcements from United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jonathan Mellone, a Special Agent in Charge with the Department of Labor; Office of Inspector General, and Christopher Silvestro, Special Agent in Charge of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service's Northeast Field Office.
