GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Six people from Benton Harbor have been charged for pandemic fraud schemes. The six obtained more than $1 million in COVID-19 relief, including fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and small business loans.
According to the Department of Justice, the group includes 45-year-old Roshell Beaty (aka Roshell Clinton, Angel Clinton, and Angel Beaty), her 21-year-old son Melvin Clinton, her 28-year-old daughter Danielle Branch (aka Danielle Beaty), and her 27-year-old son Christopher Branch. 22-year-old Christopher Bates and 24-year-old Brianna Rimpson were also charged.
From April 2020-December 2021, Roshell Beaty and the group submitted falsified and fraudulent claims and certifications for pandemic unemployment insurance benefits in their own names, as well as in the names of third parties. Some of the names used were from victims of identity theft. The group submitted at least 98 false and fraudulent unemployment insurance claims and related certifications in multiple states, using the names of at least 61 different people.
As a result of their crime, Michigan, Indiana, California, Illinois, and Arizona paid more than $764,000 in pandemic unemployment insurance benefits.
Roshell Beaty and Christopher Branch have been charged with various counts of aggravated identity theft, for using the means of identification of other people without lawful authority, in connection with the unemployment insurance wire fraud conspiracy. Roshell Beaty, Melvin Clinton, Danielle Branch, and Christopher Bates have been charged with fraud in connection with emergency benefits.
Five members of the group have also been charged in the indictment with varying degrees of wire fraud and conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with their alleged fraudulent receipt of loans intended to relieve small businesses of burdens and costs associated with the pandemic.
Roshell Beaty and Melvin Clinton face charges for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan in the amount of $49,900, for a purported hair and nail salon belonging to Clinton, with 10 employees. According to the Indictment, the loan proceeds were used to purchase a 2017 Jaguar F-Pace SUV.
Roshell Beaty, Melvin Clinton, Danielle Branch, Christopher Bates, and Briana Rimpson have been charged in connection with Paycheck Protection Program loans. They received $258,148 for purported small businesses.
“The Michigan [Unemployment Insurance Agency] has zero tolerance for anyone accused of breaking the public trust by stealing from fellow taxpayers,” said Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency Director Julia Dale. “We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners at the local, state, and federal levels to bring bad actors to justice and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. Our investigators have helped bring charges against 90 people accused of pandemic unemployment fraud and we’re not stopping there. Rooting out fraud is a cornerstone of our ongoing reform of the agency and our commitment to providing exemplary customer service.”
“While many individuals and families were suffering from the financial challenges caused by COVID-19, criminals used it as an opportunity to exploit pandemic relief programs for their own financial gain, knowing they were not entitled to the funds,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten. “My office will continue to collaborate with state and federal partners to rigorously investigate pandemic fraud throughout the district, pursue charges against those who have committed such fraud, and seek to recover ill-gotten gains.”
