A Richland man is accused of working with others to fraudulently claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits from at least three states during the COVID pandemic.
Seventy unemployment claims were filed using the address of Gilbert Orosco's Canyon Street home, resulting in debit cards from California, Arizona and Nevada agencies that made weekly or biweekly payments for claims for residents out of work in those states, according to an indictment in the Eastern District of Washington U.S. Court.
The claims filed in 2020 and 2021 said residents of those states were out of work due to the pandemic. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act expanded unemployment insurance eligibility to more people and provided an additional $600 per week, during part of the pandemic.
Orosco was indicted Wednesday for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, four counts of access device fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
He made 347 ATM withdrawals of nearly $283,000 in unemployment benefits and also 30 transactions worth about $57,000 using debit cards with unemployment benefits at Winco, Albertsons and the U.S. Postal Service in Eastern Washington, according to a court document.
Orosco made many of the debit card transactions in different names at the same locations within minutes of each other, according to a court document.
After obtaining cash, he would convert it to cryptocurrency or money orders for his own use or to transfer to unnamed co-conspirators, according to a court document.
Over five months in 2020 he purchased $40,0000 in Western Union money orders made payable to himself, which he deposited in his own bank account, according to a court document. He also sent images of blank money orders and money orders made payable to others.
In July 2020, he sent a text to a co-conspirator with images of six money orders and a message saying "Sweetheart here's the $4000 that's been deposited," according to a court document.
In another example, a co-conspirator replied to a text saying, "So my love you have purchase $5000 in money order now right."
Orosco also deposited cash from unemployment benefits at CoinStar kiosks in Eastern Washington, purchasing $343,780 in Bitcoin, according to a court document. Money was deposited into a BitGo wallet and then sent to other Bitcoin wallets.
When Orosco's Canyon Street house was searched by law enforcement in March 2024, federal agents found an Arizona Department of Economic Security letter addressed to an Arizona resident and dated September 2021.
The Arizona program had received an application for an unemployment insurance claim using that person's correct Social Security number and date of birth, without the person's knowledge.
The letter said that the person had been paid weekly benefits they were not entitled to because the claim had not been filed by them.
A debit card, which was sent to the Canyon Street address but never activated, was found cut into pieces in a trash can in the house.
The Richland home was foreclosed on in late May, according to Zillow.
No attorney for Orosco has been listed yet in federal court. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance and enter a plea on Tuesday at the Richland federal courthouse.
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