Brooklyn Woman Sentenced for Extensive COVID-19 Fraud Scheme in New York

What you should know

• New York prosecutors say a Brooklyn woman has been sentenced in connection with an extensive COVID-19 fraud scheme.
• Authorities say he misused his call center job, part of a New York program aimed at providing healthcare workers with isolation rooms in hotels.
• Prosecutors say she falsified separate legal documents to house 30 people in public housing or larger public housing apartments.

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn woman who pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with several pandemic-era relief schemes was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation and $650,000 in fines.

Prosecutors said Chanette Lewis, 32, carried out some of the schemes by taking advantage of her job at a call center, part of a New York program aimed at providing healthcare workers with isolation rooms in hotels. They said she provided free hotel rooms to people she knew were not eligible healthcare workers or COVID-19 patients, including herself.

“During the pandemic, this defendant exploited a COVID-19 safe housing program for her personal benefit; Today she faces the consequences of her criminal conduct. “I thank New York City Emergency Management for reporting this matter,” New York Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said in a statement.

It is the latest example of how people are believed to have stolen approximately $280 billion in government aid during the pandemic across the United States, including New York. Thursday’s sentencing was part of a larger case involving $400,000 of fraud in the hotel program.

Lewis admitted to defrauding emergency programs, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement, and separately falsified legal documents purportedly coming from judges, prosecutors and doctors to get 30 people into public housing or in larger public housing apartments.

Using personal information stolen from real healthcare workers, she and three co-defendants were accused of securing hotel rooms and then advertising them on Facebook for rent, according to the Department of Investigation Statement. Co-defendants in the case have admitted to receiving unemployment benefits in several states, as well as fraudulent small business loans.

The Associated Press left phone and email messages with an attorney involved in a plea deal in the case. It was not immediately clear if that was Lewis’ current attorney; Requests to prosecutors and investigators for updated contact information were not immediately returned.

Lewis was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to forfeit $290,000 and pay another $360,000 in fines. His co-defendants received lesser sentences or have not yet been sentenced.

2024-02-10 03:23:26
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