A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging 23-year-old Tynea Lynnshay Gray of Donaldsonville and Prairieville with mail fraud and wire fraud.
According to a news release, Gray appeared for her arraignment and pled not guilty to the pending charges.
According to the indictment, between June 2020 and October 2021, Gray submitted claims for unemployment insurance benefits in California in her name and in the names of other individuals. Gray also submitted claims for Paycheck Protection Program (also known as PPP) benefits in the names of fictitious businesses and based on fictitious business profits and losses.
Further, Gray obtained names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of others, and submitted fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance benefits in their names, with and without their knowledge or consent. Gray captured people’s identifying information through social media and used the information to file numerous unemployment insurance claims. Upon submitting the claims and receiving the funds, she either gave a portion of the funds to others or kept all the funds for herself. Through her scheme, Gray obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in prepaid debit cards in the mail.
In February 2021, Gray also devised a scheme to defraud a lender and the United States, through the Small Business Administration, by filing false and fraudulent applications for PPP funds. In furtherance of the scheme, on or about February 2, 2021, she submitted a...
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