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A Novi man faces federal charges after he received more than $300,000 because he allegedly made fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits in the names of prisoners and parolees.
Terrell Dwayne Mason, 39, was charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft because of the alleged scheme that apparently started in spring 2020.
Federal prosecutors said in their May 5 complaint that Mason filed more than 40 fraudulent claims, predominantly in the names of people with criminal records and ineligible to receive the pandemic specific unemployment dollars.
According to the court complaint, Mason met a Michigan unemployment insurance employee when he began dating one of the state worker’s relatives.
Novi man allegedly used prison inmate IDs in Michigan to steal $300,000 in unemployment
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LANSING, Mich. - A Novi man who allegedly used his relationship with an employee from Michigan s unemployment agency to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars was charged with committing several financial crimes.
Terrell Dwayne Mason allegedly filed unemployment claims with the names of current inmates in the state to receive benefits from the insurance agency.
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A 39-year-old Metro Detroit man has been charged in Detroit U.S. District Court with stealing about $300,000 in unemployment benefits by fraudulently filing in the names of inmates in the state prison system.
Terrell Dwayne Mason worked with a state employee since the spring of 2020 to file more than 40 fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims those filed by self-employed or gig workers in the name of inmates or recent parolees, according to a complaint in federal court records.
Mason was charged Wednesday with mail and wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
In 2011, Mason was arrested and sentenced for organizing a scheme that provide fake IDs and fake credit cards to groups sent around the country to buy electronics and ship them back to Michigan. He was sentenced to probation but has been arrested at various points over the last several years for violations.
Novi man uses prison inmate identities to steal $300K in pandemic unemployment payments, feds say
Terrell Mason faces 4 charges
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unemployment claims and stole more than $300,000 in the process, federal officials said.
Terrell Dwayne Mason, 39, of Novi, is accused of using state and federal prison inmates’ identities to file claims for
Investigators said Mason filed more than 40 fraudulent claims during the course of the scheme. He used his relationship with a Michigan unemployment employee to process the fraudulent claims through the state’s system, according to authorities.
He received more than $300,000 in the scheme and would have made more than $800,000 if he hadn’t been caught, federal officials said.