A Hampton woman was sentenced to five years in prison for identity theft and leading a conspiracy to defraud the government and financial institutions for pandemic-related loans and other benefits.
According to court documents, Lapondia Wallace, 53, was responsible for at least 22 fraudulent pandemic loan applications and five additional fraudulent applications for pandemic unemployment insurance benefits.
This fraud resulted in more than $250,000 in loss to the United States and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Wallace withdrew substantial amounts of the fraud proceeds as U.S. currency before they could be seized and spent the money on gambling, travel, and luxury retail items like clothing and shoes.
Wallace has at least fifteen prior convictions for fraud, forgery, and related offences, including a 2021 federal conviction for mail fraud. She committed the pandemic fraud at issue while under court supervision for her prior federal conviction for mail fraud.
Wallace and her co-conspirators repeatedly filed fraudulent insurance claims in her prior federal case.
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