Lawrence Lawson, 41, also must pay $355,849 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the scheme.
Cliff Pinckard, cleveland.com
Lawrence Lawson, 41, also must pay $355,849 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. Six other Northeast Ohio residents also have been charged as part of the scheme. According to the U.S. attorney’s office, between May and November of 2020, Lawson recruited people to file pandemic unemployment insurance benefit claims on their behalf in exchange for a portion of the money received.
If a claim was successful, a pre-loaded debit card was mailed to the recipient, and Lawson and Clifton would take a portion of the money received as payment. Because ODJFS and the other SWAs required recertification of an unemployed person’s status, Lawrence and Clifton charged an additional weekly fee to provide this service to those helping them, prosecutors say. If a person failed to pay the fee, Lawrence and Clifton ceased verification of the unemployment status and the benefits would stop.
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