A former employee of the U.S. Department of Labor has been indicted for allegedly obtaining more than $40,000 in pandemic unemployment assistance benefits through fraudulent means.
Mo Yuong Kang, 50, who previously lived in Woburn and Dracut, Massachusetts, was charged with wire fraud following an indictment. Authorities allege that Kang submitted a false application for pandemic unemployment assistance (PUA) to the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) in April 2020. At the time, Kang was employed full-time as an Industrial Hygienist with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, earning $86,667 in 2020 and $90,738 in 2021.
According to the indictment, Kang claimed under penalty of perjury on his PUA application 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 stated he had not earned more than $89 a week since March 8, 2020. The DUA approved his claim. From then through September 2021, Kang allegedly submitted weekly certifications claiming he did not work or receive any income during those periods. Based on these statements and certifications, prosecutors allege that Kang received $45,868 in PUA benefits to which he was not entitled.
The federal government established the PUA program as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020 to help individuals financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic who were not eligible for standard unemployment benefits. In Massachusetts, claimants were required to certify their employment status both when registering initially and each week they sought benefits.
If convicted of wire fraud, Kang faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge according to U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General’s Office of Investigations for Labor Racketeering and Fraud in the Northeast Region; and Christopher Silvestro, Special Agent in Charge at the Defense Criminal Investigative Service’s Northeast Field Office announced the charges today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristina E. Barclay is prosecuting the case.
“The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.”
