Maryland Man Admits Role in $1.3 Million Unemployment Fraud Scheme

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A Prince George’s County man has pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a scheme that fraudulently secured over $1.3 million in unemployment insurance benefits across multiple states. The case, which spans the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, involved the use of stolen identities to exploit relief systems intended to help those genuinely in need.

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Mervyn Fombe Abiko, 35, admitted to participating in a conspiracy from February 2020 to February 2021 to file false unemployment claims using the personal identifying information (PII) of at least 183 individuals. Abiko and his co-conspirators—including Martin Tabe, Gladstone Njokem, and others—used stolen data to submit fraudulent applications in Maryland, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Authorities linked the claims through common digital fingerprints such as IP addresses and email accounts.

According to investigators, the group shared the illegally obtained PII among themselves to maximize the number of applications submitted. These actions led to the disbursement of at least $1,313,325 in benefits, none of which were authorized by the victims. The fraud was uncovered through joint efforts by multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of the Treasury’s OIG.

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Co-conspirators Tabe and Sylvester Atekwane, both of Maryland, previously entered guilty pleas for their involvement. Another member of the group, Gladstone Njokem, was sentenced in October 2023 to over four years in federal prison. The charges stem from broader federal efforts to combat COVID-19-related fraud through the Justice Department’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was established in May 2021.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean R. Delaney. Several local and state agencies, including the Prince George’s County and Baltimore County Police Departments and the Maryland Department of Labor, also contributed to the investigation.

Article by multiple RFHC contributors, based upon information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland

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