ALBANY, NEW YORK – A grand jury indictment unsealed today alleges that former New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) employee Wendell Giles, age 51, of Albany, conspired with another former NYSDOL employee to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, including federally funded pandemic-relief benefits. A co-conspirator, Carl J. DiVeglia III, age 33, of Albany, waived indictment and pled guilty on April 13 to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft charges before Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Associate Deputy Attorney General and Director of COVID Fraud Enforcement Kevin A. Chambers; Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and Jonathan Mellone, Special Agent in Charge, New York Region, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General (USDOL-OIG).
The indictment alleges that from about July 2020 through August 2021, Giles and DiVeglia initiated fraudulent unemployment insurance applications in the names of other people and then abused their NYSDOL computer systems access to release benefits payments on the false claims. Giles and DiVeglia each received a share of the fraudulently obtained UI benefits. The charges in the indictment against Giles are merely accusations. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman stated: “As...
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