(The Center Square) – An indictment was unsealed this week after a California man allegedly defrauded the federal government out of over $100,000 worth of unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic.
The man, set to appear in a Salt Lake City federal courthouse, faces an eight-count indictment that charges him with illegally collecting unemployment insurance from California while living and working in Utah. He also allegedly helped others do the same for a commission.
Robert James Waff, 49, of Sacramento, California, allegedly used the California Employment Development Department website to submit an online application for unemployment insurance benefits on June 19, 2020. He lived in Clearfield, Utah, at the time, but allegedly listed his residence as Fair Oaks, California.
Waff claimed that he lost his $44,000 per year job due to the coronavirus pandemic and that he wanted to return to work for his previous employer. He ultimately received $36,000 in fraudulent payments.
Additionally, starting in July 2020, Waff allegedly helped three coconspirators apply for coronavirus-related California unemployment benefits on the California EDD website. No one who applied lived or worked in California. Waff allegedly asked for a cash payout from the applicants for helping falsify these applications. The fraudulent UI benefit claims exceeded $100,000.
Waff faces charges of one count of wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud aiding and abetting, and four counts of mail fraud aiding and abetting.
He will make his initial court appearance on the indictment on January 5, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the Orrin G. Hatch United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
The FBI Salt Lake City Division and the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (OIG) are jointly investigating the case, while Assistant United States Attorney Brian Williams of the District of Utah is prosecuting it.