Maplewood woman pleads guilty to stealing millions in COVID relief funds
MINNEAPOLIS -- A Maplewood woman pleaded guilty after she stole more than $2.4 million in pandemic-related unemployment benefits and small business loans.
According to court documents, Takara Hughes, 35, made fraudulent claims and applications for unemployment benefits that were meant to provide relief to the American workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hughes applied for the benefits from multiple states simultaneously; in one instance, while living in Minnesota, she claimed she lived and worked as a hair stylist in California, receiving at least $46,000 in unemployment benefits from California's Employment Development Department.
She regularly "double-dipped" by applying for benefits in multiple states, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Her scheme lasted from June 2020 to July 2021.
She also charged others roughly $3,000 to fraudulently obtain pandemic-related funds on their behalf.
In all, she applied for $2,485,409 in pandemic-related funds and caused multiple state and federal agencies to pay out at least $1,253,339 to her and others in the form of unemployment benefits and small business loans.
She pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of wire fraud. She will be sentenced at a later time.