Albany, NY (June 12, 2013) - The New York State Department of Labor today announced the arrest of four individuals for stealing nearly $80,000 in Unemployment Insurance benefits.  The Department of Labor’s Office of Special Investigations identified the four individuals who were illegally collecting benefits while also earning wages from employment.

The Kings County District Attorney filed felony complaints against all four individuals, charging each with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, Penal Law §155.35.  This is a class D felony, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in state prison. Each of the defendants was released on their own recognizance and is awaiting further proceedings.   

"When individuals steal Unemployment benefits, they steal from their neighbors, their friends, their family, and everyone here in New York,” said Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.  “Fraud against our Unemployment Insurance system increases costs for all of the honest businesses in the state and will not be tolerated. We will continue to put our efforts into preventing and investigating instances of fraud against the system."

The four individuals, Robert Steele, Fawn Hayes, Chris Oreckinto and Charles P. Jules, all residents of Brooklyn, were discovered by the Labor Department through data mining of various sources to find fraud.  The New York State Police, working with the Kings County District Attorney’s office, made all four arrests Monday.  All of the defendants were working and earning salaries while collecting benefits.

Robert Steele, a warehouse laborer, worked and earned a salary of $40,000 per year and fraudulently collected $20,442.50 in Unemployment Insurance benefits from October 5^th, 2009 through January 23^rd 2011.

Working as a payroll/billing clerk, Fawn Hayes was earning a salary of $30,000 while fraudulently collecting $17,257.50 in Unemployment Insurance benefits from August 9^th, 2010 to October 2^nd, 2011.

While working as a warehouse teamster at a salary of over $53,000, Chris Oreckinto collected $23,601.25 in Unemployment Insurance benefits from July 20^th, 2009 through October 24^th, 2010.

Charles P. Jules earned a salary of $103,000 per year as a journeyman electrician and stole $16,503.75 in Unemployment Insurance benefits from February 6^th, 2011 through July 1^st, 2012.

“This should serve as a warning to all who think they can double dip and scam the system,” said State Labor Commissioner Peter M. Rivera.  “You will be caught.  We have a no tolerance policy at the Department of Labor for fraud and deceit.”

The suspicious activity was identified by the State Department of Labor and referred to the Kings County District Attorney on May 23^rd, 2013.  The Department of Labor partners with employers to aggressively investigate and root out Unemployment Insurance fraud within their businesses.  The Department’s Office of Special Investigations investigates cases and refers them to local district attorneys to prosecute.  In 2012, the Office of Special Investigations referred 875 cases for criminal prosecution to district attorneys around the state, a 16% increase from the previous year.

The arrests by the New York State Police, under the supervision of Senior Investigator Randolph Donaldson, add to the total of 530 Unemployment fraud-related arrests by this New York State Police unit since 2008. Senior Investigator Donaldson, retiring after more than 31 years of service to the State Police, and the investigators he supervised in New York City have worked closely with the Department of Labor to charge defendants with stealing more than $4.5 million in Unemployment Insurance benefits.

The criminal case is being prosecuted by Kings County Assistant District Attorney Evan Lyman. The case was investigated by Investigators Trung Li, Brendon Hunt, Devon Joseph, and Kristian Angeles of the Department of Labor's Office of Special Investigations.

Anyone with information about Unemployment Insurance fraud should call the Department of Labor's toll-free fraud hotline at (888) 598-2077.