Michigan employee pleads guilty, faces prison for $3.8 million unemployment scheme
DETROIT — A contract employee for the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for her role in a multi-million-dollar unemployment insurance fraud scheme.
Brandi Hawkins, 40, was charged in July with using her insider access to release federal and state funds on hundreds of fraudulent claims. A search of her home turned up more than $200,000 in cash.
Her actions resulted in the fraudulent disbursement of about $3.8 million of federal and state funds intended for unemployment assistance during the pandemic, acting U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin said. If every fraudulent claim released by Hawkins, a Detroit resident, had been disbursed in full, the losses would have totaled more than $12 million, Mohsin said.
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Hawkins' lawyer, Randall Upshaw, did not respond to an email request for comment .
Hawkins is one of several people who have been charged with stealing unemployment insurance money intended to help Michiganders who were out of work during the pandemic.
Sentencing is set for Oct. 28. Hawkins faces a maximum 20 years in federal prison.
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