A Columbus mother and daughter who once worked inside Ohio’s unemployment system are headed to prison after prosecutors say they quietly funneled nearly $2 million in pandemic jobless benefits to friends and relatives.
Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Brown sentenced Velma Cain, 50, and her daughter, Rashanna Burley, 26, last Friday, giving each woman a minimum of about four years and nine months behind bars and ordering them to repay $1,582,251 and $355,382, respectively, according to Cleveland.com. The judge also tacked on additional months tied to related counts, and prosecutors and court records describe the restitution as an effort to get money back to legitimate claimants.
How investigators say they did it
According to investigators with the Ohio Inspector General, Cain and Burley worked as intermittent customer‑service representatives for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and used that access to tamper with unassigned Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims, WKTN reported. Officials say the pair removed holds and blocks they were not authorized to change, clearing the way for payments to people who did not qualify.
The inspector general’s review found that many of the claimants who wound up with benefits were relatives or personal associates of the two women, according to WKTN. In other words, investigators say the help line turned into a pipeline.
Part of a wider enforcement wave
Prosecutors say the case is one chapter in a much larger cleanup effort involving early-pandemic safeguards that proved far too loose. Earlier this month, former contractor Andrew Kerobo and a co-defendant were sentenced in a separate scheme that authorities say diverted about $6.8 million in PUA benefits, as reported by The Columbus Dispatch.
The problem is not unique to Ohio. Across federal relief programs, a Government Accountability Office review notes that the U.S. Department of Justice had publicly announced fraud-related charges in more than 3,000 pandemic-relief cases as of Dec. 31, 2024, according to GAO.
Charges and restitution
Cain and Burley were indicted on counts that prosecutors say included engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, tampering with records and money laundering. A Franklin County grand jury returned those indictments in August 2024, according to Dayton Daily News.
Cain’s attorney, Joy Marshall, told Cleveland.com that Cain is likely to appeal the restitution figure and may challenge the prison term as well. Any appeal or collection effort could stretch out the timeline for getting money back into public coffers, potentially for years.
The Ohio Inspector General identified the probe as Report of Investigation file number 2023-CA00001 and said the work drew on assistance from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and ODJFS, according to WKTN. State officials say those joint investigations aim to claw back stolen relief dollars and shore up the system that temporarily gave some workers and contractors broad administrative access during an emergency response.
For Columbus residents who watched billions flow out the door during COVID, prosecutors say the sentences are meant to signal that pandemic-era fraud will be chased down and that the government will keep pressing for restitution. The case also highlights a lingering reality of the crisis: it took only months for relief programs to expand, and it may take many more years to untangle the abuse that followed.
