CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been charged in federal court with fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits in the names of hundreds of individuals whose information was used without their knowledge.
DARRONTE REGGANS, 33, of Matteson, Ill., is charged with ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Reggans pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. A status hearing is scheduled for March 1, 2022, before U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold.
According to the indictment, Reggans obtained unemployment insurance benefits from the Illinois Department of Employment Security by falsely and fraudulently representing that the purported claimants had worked and been terminated without fault by various employers. Reggans requested payment from IDES via debit card and directed the agency to mail the cards to various addresses he selected, the indictment states. Reggans then allegedly used the cards to withdraw the fraudulently obtained benefits from automated teller machines.
The charges allege that Reggans filed and caused to be filed approximately 296 fraudulent claims in the names of other individuals, using their names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and other personal identifying information without their knowledge. The fraudulent claims sought at least $3.6 million in benefits and caused IDES to issue benefits totaling approximately $174,000, the indictment states.
The indictment was...
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