In May of 2020, shortly after the U.S. government announced the additional $600 weekly pandemic benefit on top of the regular unemployment insurance, Bethany Green saw an opportunity. And she knew her scheme was going to happen on behalf of inmates who were not legally entitled to receive unemployment payments. Bethany Green had an in. Her husband, Patrick Green, was already an inmate at Pima County Jail. With Patrick, they conspired with other inmates at the jail, to apply for benefits on their behalf. Patrick recruited other inmates to participate in the scheme for their identities.
A total of 16 inmates provided their personal identifying information which Bethany Green then used online to fraudulently apply and obtain unemployment benefits for the inmates. Bethany Green charged the inmates a fee, typically $1,000, to complete the online unemployment applications. Bethany Green then charged the inmates an additional weekly fee of $100 to file the weekly certifications necessary to continue the unemployment payments. Seems like a deal when in jail! In total, Bethany and Patrick Green defrauded the Arizona Department of Economic Security of $226,146 in false unemployment claims.
Great job by United States Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General in this investigation. On September 7, 2023, Bethany was sentenced to three years in prison. This is not Bethany’s first foray into crime. In February of 2021, Bethany was arrested for allegedly transporting undocumented migrants in southern Arizona. Chances are, after finishing her sentence, Bethany will find another opportunity to fraud. Hopefully Patrick won’t listen to her.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “How Arizona jail inmates fraudulently obtained $200K in COVID-19 benefits” published by Arizona 12 News on September 7, 2023
Three people have been sentenced to federal prison after they recruited jail inmates in Arizona to fraudulently apply for unemployment benefits offered during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bethany Green, 46, of Texas was recently sentenced to three years in prison for participating in a financial scheme that scammed over $220,000 in unemployment benefits from the Arizona Department of Economic Security.
