Federal authorities made an indeterminate number of fraud-related arrests in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. Details of the arrests will be provided by federal prosecutor Stephen Muldrow at a news conference shortly before noon today.
The arrests were made this morning, according to the call to the press by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. The conference will also be attended by representatives of the Post Office, Social Security, the Federal Department of Labor, Social Security, Public Security, the Department of Labor of Puerto Rico, the Department of Treasury of Puerto Rico and the Inspector General of the Island.
A few days ago, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office issued a press release on the first cases that took root on the island for fraud in the PUA. They were postman José Daniel Le Hardy Figueroa, who had already been arrested for alleged cocaine and heroin trafficking since August 31, 2020, and Christoffer Pérez Vélez.
Last month, prosecutor Muldrow had anticipated in a press release that they were investigating possible frauds on federal emergency aid on the island. “We remain vigilant to our law enforcement partners to investigate and bring to justice those who exploit the current public health crisis to get rich. I urge citizens to remain alert and skeptical of any phone calls, email or website requesting personal information or bank information, while promising money or services that seem too good to be true, “the head of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Puerto Rico said at the time.
State cases of PUA fraud have been filed in Puerto Rico. Last February, the Office of the Inspector General in Puerto Rico gave way to the first complaints from public employees who applied for and received PUA benefits.
Currently, following the approval of a third package of measures to alleviate the pandemic crisis, people in Puerto Rico can continue to apply for PUA assistance until September of this year.
A month ago, the Department of Labor in Puerto Rico handled some 5,267 new PUA claims.