Westchester Man Hit with Multiple Pandemic Related Fraud Charges

One man from New Rochelle has found himself in some hot water after being charged with various counts of fraud tied to alleged actions that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid Fraud Details and the Fraud Task Force

The suspect in question was identified as 29-year old Aly Kaba of New Rochelle. According to the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office obtained by WPDH, Kaba has been indicted on conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft charges.

It is alleged in the news release that Kaba "fraudulently obtained pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits using stolen identities". It was also stated that the alleged fraud began in September of 2020 and lasted through October of 2020.

Various different law enforcement agencies have participated in this investigation including the U.S. Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and numerous other affiliates.

Evidently the issue of fraud, especially during the pandemic has become a major issue as the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force on May 17, 2021. This Task Force's mission has been to...

marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud...

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Crime and Punishment

While the alleged scheme did not last very long, the accused is now facing the potential of spending multiple decades behind bars. Based on the details in the news release, fraud is not something that the law enforcement or the justice system takes lightly.

According to the release, the conspiracy and mail fraud charges each carry a maximum term of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. In addition, the aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory term of 2 years in prison, which would be imposed consecutively to any other term of imprisonment.

Following his appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel, Kaba was released, however that release came with conditions. What those conditions are was not specified in the release. At this time a future court date has not been set for the next time he will be in court.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form. That form can be found here at the Department of Justice website.