COVID-19 fraud scheme: 2 NYC women sentenced, ordered to forfeit assets

Two women involved in a massive COVID-19 fraud were sentenced Thursday and ordered to forfeit assets and make restitution for their roles in the scheme, the New York City Department of Investigation announced.

U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan sentenced Tatiana Benjamin, 29, of Queens, to 1 year of imprisonment with 3 years of supervised release, and Heaven West, 23, of Brooklyn, to time served plus 3 years of supervised release.

As a condition of sentencing, Benjamin was ordered to pay $51,088 in forfeiture plus $294,624 in restitution, while West was ordered to pay $23,684 in forfeiture and $59,644 in restitution.

A third defendant, Chanette Lewis, 32, of Brooklyn, is scheduled for sentencing Thursday. A fourth defendant, Tatiana Daniel, 29, of Brooklyn, awaits sentencing, officials said.

Officials said Benjamin, Daniel and Lewis each pleaded guilty in late 2022 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, while West pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

Lewis also pleaded guilty to a second count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for “unlawfully obtaining benefits” from the New York City Housing Authority, officials said.

The Hotel Isolation Program, funded by the city and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was created to provide free, safe lodging for health care workers who believed they were exposed to COVID-19 as well as qualifying individuals who either tested positive, believed they were infected, or needed to isolate from a loved one who tested positive, officials said in a statement Thursday.

According to the indictments, the four women “participated in a scheme” to defraud the New York City COVID-19 Hotel Isolation Program “in a variety of ways” in 2020. Officials said the four falsely claimed to be health care workers, and also misappropriated health care worker identifying information, using Facebook to advertise fraudulently obtained hotel rooms to individuals who didn't meet program requirements.

The four then “bragged in some of their Facebook messages to each other” about making money from the scheme, authorities said.

In addition, authorities said Daniel committed COVID-19 fraud in other instances, including operating a fraudulent document mill to sell fabricated COVID-19 test results, as well as committing unemployment benefit fraud in multiple states.

Officials said Daniel also illegally obtained COVID-19 loans funded through the U.S. Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.

“Amid the fear and uncertainty of a global pandemic, these defendants saw an opportunity to enrich themselves by abusing a program intended to house healthcare workers and vulnerable New Yorkers,” city DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said in a statement, adding: “Today, they face the consequences of their illegal conduct.” 

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”