27 months for wire fraud, embezzlement, theft

scale-of-justice-4

Forty year old Tacoma, Washington resident Iligaanoa Theresa Lauofo of American Samoa was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 27 months in prison for wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and embezzlement of mail by a postal employee.

Lauofo illegally collected more than $276,000 over the course of a fraud scheme that began in 2011 and continued until 2018.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones noted, “There are large families across this country who have no source of income and mouths to feed…. You had no right to go out and lie and cheat and steal your way…. You told a persistent and protracted series of lies.”

U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran said, “This defendant was unrelenting in her efforts to defraud the systems we rely on to help the neediest in our communities. She persisted even after authorities made clear they were investigating her fraud scheme. At a time when many are struggling to make ends meet because of COVID-19, we must safeguard federal resources for those who need assistance.”

According to records in the case, Lauofo lied about her household composition and income, used stolen identities to claim additional benefits and open bank and credit accounts, and stole checks from the mail during a period when she was employed by the U.S. Postal Service.

Between April 2011 and December 2018, Lauofo applied for welfare benefits, including food, childcare, and income assistance, by claiming her husband did not live with the family, and submitted falsified documents to bolster that claim.

Across those various identities, she also stole and misused the identity information of 13 minor children who lived in American Samoa and Western Samoa, claiming they resided with her (or her alternate identities) when they did not. By claiming these children, she received additional food and childcare benefits.

In all, Lauofo fraudulently received $222,294 in overpaid benefits. LAUOFO falsely claimed the children on her tax filings, resulting in over $35,000 in tax credits and refunds that she did not deserve. She used some of the identities she stole to open bank and credit accounts.

She opened one of those accounts in the name of her ex-husband three years after he died and deposited worthless checks in the bank account and quickly withdrew cash before the bank realized the fraud. More than $10,000 in loss resulted from that conduct.

Lauofo was ordered to serve three years of supervised release following prison and is obligated to pay $276,639 in restitution.

Source: DOJ Press Release