They didn’t call Michael Akame Ngwese Ay Makoge the “Hype” for nothing. After all, the synonym to “hype” is “fraud.” And Makoge was a fraud. But his buddies must have seen that as a good thing, or they wouldn’t have joined Makoge in his scheme to defraud the U.S. taxpayer. Starting in March 2020, Makoge convinced his buddies to submit fraudulent claims for COVID-19 pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits in Maryland and California, using stolen identities. Talking about hype.
Makoge and his co-conspirators obtained the birthdates, social security numbers, and other personal identifying information (“PII”) of numerous victims which they used to prepare these fraudulent applications. In all, Makoge and his buddies submitted more than two hundred fraudulent unemployment insurance claims using the names and PII of their victims. And received more than $1.6 million in fraudulent benefits. Who wouldn’t get hyped up about that?
Without their permission, Makoge impersonated the victims whose identities he fraudulently used in his scheme, to open bank accounts. When your nickname is “Hype”, who needs permission? The fraudulent unemployment benefits obtained from Makoge’s scheme were loaded onto debit cards and mailed to addresses provided and monitored by Makoge and his buds. Once Makoge fraudulently obtained benefits on the debit cards, he used them for cash withdrawals and other transactions for his own financial benefit.
On March 3, 2024, Makoge was sentenced to fifty-three months in federal prison, where he will for sure obtain a new nickname.
Excellent job by the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Today’s Fraud of The Day is based on article “Laurel man sentenced to federal prison after $1.6 million pandemic scheme” published by the Baltimore Sun on March 3, 2024.
A Prince George’s County man was sentenced to 53 months in federal prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to steal more than $1.6 million in unemployment insurance benefits related to the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Court Judge Brendan A. Hurson issued the sentence to Michael Akame Ngwese Ay Makoge, 29, of Laurel, as part of a plea deal in which Makoge admitted that he and a group of co-conspirators impersonated victims in order to submit fraudulent claims for the pandemic-related benefits in Maryland and California in 2020 and 2021, according to a statement the U.S. Department of Justice released Friday.
