Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin announced that three individuals recently pleaded to unemployment insurance benefit fraud totaling more than $31,000. To date this year, the Office has secured $402,321 in court-ordered restitution from those convicted of unemployment insurance fraud.
"Six months into the calendar year, and we are on record pace to prosecute more individuals for unemployment insurance benefit fraud and secure more court ordered restitution than in any year since we launched this partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training," said Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin. "And, we are not done. We will continue to identify, investigate, and prosecute anyone who thinks they can get away with stealing unemployment insurance benefits."
Junior R. Taveras, (age 36) of Providence, pleaded nolo contendere on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 before Superior Court Magistrate Patrick Burke to one count of obtaining money under false pretenses over $1,500 for collecting more than $9,000 in unemployment insurance benefits while he was employed. In addition, Taveras was found to be in possession of cocaine. Under the terms of the plea, Taveras was sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to pay $9,347 in restitution, at a rate of no less than $161 per month. He was sentenced to an additional year of probation, to run concurrent, for the possession of cocaine.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove that on dates between July 25, 2012 and July 8, 2013, Taveras failed to accurately report his weekly earnings to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training (RIDLT) when he called in to the RIDLT Teleserve voice response system to authorize his weekly unemployment benefits. While Taveras was collecting unemployment benefits, he was employed by Nordstrom.
Also on June 6, 2017, Kevin Monahan, (age 31) of Charlestown, RI, pleaded nolo contendere before Magistrate Patrick Burke to one count of obtaining money under false pretenses over $1,500 for collecting more than $9,000 in unemployment insurance benefits while he was employed. Monahan was sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to pay $9,071 in restitution, at a rate of no less than $157 per month.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove that on dates between March 10, 2012 and June 18, 2012, Monahan failed to accurately report his weekly earnings to the RIDLT when he called in to the RIDLT Teleserve voice response system to authorize his weekly unemployment benefits. While Monahan was collecting unemployment benefits, he was working for Welding Works in Madison, CT, and Maxson Automatic Machine Company in Westerly, RI.
Additionally, on June 6, 2017, Ted Raymond (age 45), of Woonsocket, RI, pleaded nolo contendere before Magistrate Patrick Burke to one count of obtaining money under false pretenses over $1,500 for collecting more than $13,000 in unemployment insurance benefits while he was working. Raymond was sentenced to eight years of probation and was ordered to pay $13,746 in restitution, at a rate of no less than $150 per month.
Had the case proceeded to trial, the State was prepared to prove that on dates between November 7, 2009 and September 16, 2013, Raymond failed to accurately report his weekly earnings to the RIDLT when he called in to the RIDLT Teleserve voice response system to authorize his weekly unemployment benefits. While Raymond was collecting unemployment benefits, he was employed by Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln, RI.
The cases were initiated by RIDLT fraud investigators and then referred to the Rhode Island State Police where the investigations were led by Investigator Michael Douglas and prosecuted by the Office of Attorney General.
The Office of Attorney General is assigned a prosecutor devoted exclusively to prosecuting fraud cases referred by the RIDLT involving unemployment insurance benefit fraud, workers' compensation fraud, prevailing wage violations, and labor standards violations. The prosecutor in this position is solely responsible for screening, charging, prosecuting, tracking, and reporting case results to RIDLT and the Office of Attorney General.