EGN NEWS DESK
McClain, 24, who performed highschool soccer for JSerra in Orange County, will enter his plea Monday in downtown Los Angeles to 1 depend of felony mail fraud, his plea settlement filed final week states.
McClain, who performed at USC from 2018-20 after which transferred to Jackson State, was charged three years in the past with a number of counts of mail fraud and aggravated id theft.Prosecutors allege McClain, who was taking part in for USC throughout the scheme in 2020, organized and assisted a bunch of different gamers in submitting fraudulent claims for unemployment advantages, together with below the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program established by Congress in response to the pandemic’s financial fallout.
The indictment alleges that the claims contained bogus details about the soccer gamers’ supposed prior employment, pandemic-related job loss, and job-seeking efforts in California.
Federal prosecutors contend that false statements in functions filed with the state’s unemployment insurance coverage advantages program led the California Employment Development Department to authorize Bank of America to mail debit playing cards to the soccer gamers.
Those debit playing cards had been loaded with at a whole bunch and typically 1000’s of {dollars} in unemployment advantages, which the recipients used to make money withdrawals at automated teller machines and to fund private bills, prosecutors stated.
In some instances, McClain sought and obtained a minimize for serving to others file fraudulent functions, in line with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
McClain and others additionally allegedly filed functions in their very own names, within the names of different mates and associates, and within the names of id theft victims.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office contends McClain induced not less than three dozen fraudulent functions to be filed with EDD throughout the summer season of 2020. According to the indictment, these fraudulent functions sought over $1 million in advantages and led the EDD to pay out not less than $227,736.
“When the college realized of this matter in September 2020, we notified legislation enforcement and have been totally cooperating with authorities,” USC stated when McClain was charged in 2021. “We are unable to supply further info as a result of this can be a pending felony matter.”
