Reha Janee Arvie, 33, of Westwego, LA, has been indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud (count one), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, mail fraud (counts two and three), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341, and making false statements (count four), in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).
Arvie was indicted on September 6, 2024.
According to the indictment, beginning in or around July 2020, Arvie defrauded and attempted to defraud various unemployment insurance state offices by submitting approximately 100 fraudulent UI applications. Arvie recruited friends and family via Facebook to file these fraudulent UI applications.
Additionally, Arvie filed fraudulent UI applications for herself and others in various states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas, and the territory of Guam.
Arvie charged those for whom she filed fraudulent UI claims fees ranging from $1,200.00 to $1,500.00. Moreover, during the investigation, Arvie lied to federal agents during an interview.
Later, on April 8, 2021, Arvie unlawfully obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the United States Small Business Administration. Specifically, Arvie falsely claimed on her PPP application that she had an income of $102,357.00 for 2020 and submitted a fraudulent Schedule C in support thereof. As a result of her false statements, Arvie received a PPP loan of approximately $20,832.00.
If convicted, Arvie faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment, per count, for counts one through three and up to five years’ imprisonment for count four. As to each count, Arvie also faces up to three years of supervised release, a fine up to $250,000.00, or twice the gross gain to the defendant, or twice the gross loss to any victim, and a $100.00 mandatory special assessment fee.
U.S. Attorney Evans reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the defendant’s guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across the government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud.
The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts.
