Woo gang members from NY to California arrested on unemployment fraud charges

NEW YORK - Authorities made arrests from New York to Delaware to California as they rounded up 10 men accused of fraudulently reaping more than $4 million in unemployment benefits during the coronavirus pandemic.

They and others, including an 11th defendant who’s still at large, used more than 800 other people’s identities to file claims in New York, the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office said Thursday.

Prosecutors say the defendants are all members or associates of the Brooklyn-based Woo gang.

Between March 2020 and October 2021, the defendants used the personally identifiable information of more than 800 victims to submit nearly 1,000 claims to the New York State Department of Labor for unemployment insurance benefits funded, in whole or in part, by COVID-19 pandemic assistance programs, prosecutors allege.

Together, the men ultimately obtained approximately $4.3 million in unemployment insurance after having filed for approximately $20 million in benefits, according to the complaint.

The men posted photos of themselves on social media flashing gang signs, standing in front of luxury vehicles, and holding stacks of United States currency. Several of the defendants appeared in a music video entitled "Trappin," which was posted to YouTube on May 8, 2021. The lyrics of the song include, "Unemployment got us workin’ a lot," a reference to the defendants’ fraudulent scheme, featuring five of the men.

Eight were arrested in New York City, one in Delaware and one in California.

Unemployment fraud has been a nationwide problem during the pandemic, as benefit applications overwhelmed state unemployment agencies. Criminals were able to buy stolen identity data on the dark web and use it to file a heap of phony claims.

The federal Labor Department has said that about $87 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits could have been paid improperly nationwide, with a significant portion attributable to fraud. An Associated Press review in March 2021 found that estimates ranged from $11 billion in fraudulent payments in California to several hundred thousand dollars in states such as Alaska and Wyoming.

The Defendants:

ROMEAN BROWN
Age: 23
Los Angeles, California

TYREK CLARKE
Age: 21
Miami, Florida

KENNITH DESIR
Age: 20
Brooklyn, New York

STEPhAN DORMINVIL
Age: 21
Brooklyn, New York

KAI HEYWARD
Age: 22
Brooklyn, New York

KEITH JAMES
Age: 20
Brooklyn, New York

ONEAL MARKS
Age: 20
Brooklyn, New York

JAHRIAH OLIVIERRE
Age: 22
Brooklyn, New York

CHRISTOPHER JEAN PIERRE
Age: 21
Brooklyn, New York

ROLEEKE SMITH
Age: 20
Brooklyn, New York

CHRISTOPHER TOPEY
Age: 21
Brooklyn, New York