Baltimore Man Pleads Guilty For Stealing Benefits Under CARES Act, Aggravated Identity Theft
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A Baltimore man pleaded guilty Tuesday to the federal charges of conspiracy to steal mail, emergency benefits fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to his guilty plea, Nicholas Milano White, 29, conspired to and engaged in various fraud schemes, theft of mail, counterfeiting of U.S. currency, production and possession of false identification documents and credit profiles, unemployment insurance fraud and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
According to White's plea agreement, he unlawfully acquired an Economic Impact Payment (EIP) check issued by the U.S. Treasury and authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
White also admits that in October 2019, he submitted a fraudulent application for financing to purchase a 2016 Maserati Ghibli vehicle. As a result, he secured financing of $30,227 to purchase the vehicle.
According to his guilty plea, in February and March 2020, White devised schemes to defraud banks and to steal money from individuals by negotiating checks stolen from the United States mail.
White and his co-conspirators, at White's direction, stole mail from collection boxes in the Baltimore area. White then altered the stolen checks and deposited them into bank accounts he controlled and that had been opened for that purpose, according to his plea agreement.
In March 2020, he continued to engage in fraud by submitting a false claim for Florida state unemployment benefits through the Internet in the name of a real person, using the victim's personal information but providing a false mailing address in Baltimore.
White and the government have agreed that, if the court accepts the plea agreement, he will be sentenced to between five and eight years in federal prison.
