JACKSON — Four people have been arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to obtain fraudulent unemployment benefits using the stolen identities of inmates in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, State Auditor Shad White announced Monday.
Felisa Suggs, Nathanial Coleman, P’Trance Fields and Kavisia Blaylock are accused of submitting and obtaining fraudulent unemployment funds through the Mississippi Department of Employment Security using the identities of incarcerated individuals.
The arrests are part of the State Auditor’s Office’s ongoing effort to recover unemployment funds improperly distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“My office found that over half a billion dollars in illegal unemployment claims were given out during the pandemic,” White said. “That’s why my team started Operation Payback to recover as much of that misspent money as possible.”
Special agents with the auditor’s office discovered four unemployment claims submitted to MDES using the names of inmates in the full-time custody of MDOC, according to the auditor’s office.
Coleman and Fields allegedly used the identities of inmates they had close proximity to while incarcerated to submit fraudulent unemployment claims. Suggs and Blaylock allegedly used various Cash App and bank accounts to launder the fraudulently obtained funds, officials said.
Each of the four defendants faces up to 40 years in prison and $35,000 in fines if convicted.
All four are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
The State Auditor’s Office encourages anyone with information about suspected fraud to report it through its website or by calling the office’s fraud hotline at 1-800-321-1275.
