A Plymouth man pleaded guilty to COVID-19 pandemic unemployment fraud and will see prison time in the House of Corrections, Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro’s office announced Thursday.
Aaron Fernandes, 43, pleaded guilty to three counts of larceny over $1200, two counts of unemployment fraud, one count of identity fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit larceny, Shapiro’s office said in a statement.
He will serve six months in the House of Corrections. A Suffolk Superior Court judge ordered Fernandes to pay $44,823 in restitution to the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance upon completion of his sentence. The judge also imposed three years of probation.
More local crime stories
Fernandes was accused of conspiring with two women to pocket about $100,000 in COVID-19 relief payments during the pandemic, The Plymouth Independent reported in November 2023.
The charges against those two women, Rebecca Holmes and Katherine Quigley, remain pending, the Shapiro’s office said.
Ferris Brooks, also of Plymouth, collected over $400,000 in benefits in his name, in the names of two homeless people and a person who lives in Dubai, the Independent wrote. Fernandes, Brooks and the two women were arrested in separate cases as part of a larger crackdown on pandemic relief fraud.
“The overwhelming need for these funds in the wake of a global pandemic and the speed with which they were dispersed did create opportunities for fraud,” Shapiro said in the statement. “I am grateful to the attorney general and her team for their continued efforts to hold those who took advantage of that opportunity accountable. The OIG remains committed to pursuing allegations of fraud and we are indebted to members of the public who contact our fraud hotline.”