Minneapolis — A Maplewood woman pleaded guilty after stealing more than $2.4 million in pandemic-related unemployment benefits and small business loans.
Takara Hughes, 35, filed fraudulent claims and unemployment benefits in a bid to help the American workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court documents.
Hughes applied for benefits from multiple states simultaneously. In one instance, she claimed she lived and worked as a hair stylist in California while living in Minnesota, and she was receiving at least $46,000 in unemployment benefits from the California Department of Employment Development.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, she was “double-burdening” by regularly applying for benefits in multiple states.
Her plan ran from June 2020 to July 2021.
She also claimed around $3,000 to fraudulently obtain pandemic-related funds on behalf of others.
In total, she applied for $2,485,409 in pandemic-related funding and had multiple state and federal agencies pay her and others at least $1,253,339 in the form of unemployment benefits and small business loans.
She pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on Thursday. She will be executed later.
WCCO Staff
