United States Attorney Ronald C. Gathe, Jr. announced that Myaika Gross, age 40, of Denham Springs, Louisiana, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles to wire fraud in connection with her defrauding of the COVID-19 relief programs.
According to admissions made as part of her guilty plea, Gross worked as a United States Postal Employee in Louisiana between May of 2020 and June of 2021. Yet, during that time period she applied for Pandemic Unemployment benefits in five different states (California, Kansas, Indiana, Colorado and Louisiana), claiming she worked in each and had been laid off for COVID-19 related reasons. Additionally, Gross applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan using fraudulent information during this time frame. In total, Gross took $65,928 in pandemic funds she was not entitled to receive.
This matter is being investigated by the United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General, and the United States Department of Labor-Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica M.P. Thornhill, who also serves as the Deputy Chief of the Economic Crime Unit.
Anyone with information about allegations of pandemic fraud can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
