PHILADELPHIA, PA — A Hummelstown man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges tied to a multi-state scheme that fraudulently obtained more than $2.8 million in pandemic unemployment benefits, federal prosecutors said.
Ardavan Alamoutinia, 33, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sánchez on charges including conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, 10 counts of mail fraud, theft of government money, and aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said Alamoutinia and co-defendant Aryanah Davison, 26, of Harrisburg, used stolen identities to submit more than 500 fraudulent applications for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits across 27 states.
The applications relied on personal information belonging to at least 375 current or former employees of a company, which had been stolen by a co-conspirator and provided to Davison, according to court filings.
The scheme resulted in at least $2,886,876 in losses to the government.
Authorities said the defendants converted at least $2.5 million of the proceeds, spending the funds in part on a luxury sports vehicle and large cryptocurrency purchases.
Davison pleaded guilty to her role in the scheme in January of last year.
Alamoutinia is scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, July 9, and faces a maximum possible sentence of 232 years in prison. Davison will be sentenced at a later date and faces the same maximum penalty.
The case was investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, NASA Office of Inspector General, and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Chandler Harris.
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