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A 45‑year‑old Dominican national, Karin L. Contreras, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison in the United States for participating in a scheme that defrauded pandemic‑era unemployment insurance programs. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General. Contreras, a lawful permanent resident, pleaded guilty on July 10, 2026, to conspiracy to commit electronic fraud. The prosecutors had sought a 41‑month sentence, but Judge Beryl A. Howell imposed 27 months of imprisonment, two years of supervised release, and ordered restitution of $551,674. The fraud was carried out over a nine‑month period from June 2020 to March 2021. During that time, Contreras and other conspirators submitted false unemployment benefit claims using stolen personal information. The fraudulent claims generated more than $1 million in benefits, of which the group withdrew over $550,000. The scheme involved obtaining prepaid debit cards linked to the fraudulent claims. The cards were sent to an address in Washington, D.C., near Contreras’s residence. Withdrawals were made in $1,000 increments, the daily limit per card. Between July 1 and July 14, 2020, Contreras personally used 12 of the stolen cards to withdraw $23,000 from ATMs in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Ferris Pirro, said the fraud deprived resources intended to help people affected by the economic fallout of the COVID‑19 pandemic. The investigation was conducted by the Washington, D.C., FBI office and the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General. The indictment was brought by the Department of Justice. Article source: De Ultimo Minuto | Image credit: De Ultimo Minuto
A 45‑year‑old Dominican national, Karin L. Contreras, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison in the United States for participating in a scheme that defrauded pandemic‑era unemployment insurance programs. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General. Contreras, a lawful permanent resident, pleaded guilty on July 10, 2026, to conspiracy to commit electronic fraud. The prosecutors had sought a 41‑month sentence, but Judge Beryl A. Howell imposed 27 months of imprisonment, two years of supervised release, and ordered restitution of $551,674. The fraud was carried out over a nine‑month period from June 2020 to March 2021. During that time, Contreras and other conspirators submitted false unemployment benefit claims using stolen personal information. The fraudulent claims generated more than $1 million in benefits, of which the group withdrew over $550,000. The scheme involved obtaining prepaid debit cards linked to the fraudulent claims. The cards were sent to an address in Washington, D.C., near Contreras’s residence. Withdrawals were made in $1,000 increments, the daily limit per card. Between July 1 and July 14, 2020, Contreras personally used 12 of the stolen cards to withdraw $23,000 from ATMs in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Ferris Pirro, said the fraud deprived resources intended to help people affected by the economic fallout of the COVID‑19 pandemic. The investigation was conducted by the Washington, D.C., FBI office and the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General. The indictment was brought by the Department of Justice.
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