Prince George’s Man Faces Prison Time for $3.5 Million COVID Unemployment Fraud Scheme

A Prince George’s County resident is facing serious prison time after pleading guilty to orchestrating a large-scale scheme that defrauded federal and state COVID-19 unemployment programs of millions of dollars. Per a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, Zakria Hussain, 28, admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for his role in the submission of fraudulent unemployment insurance claims under the CARES Act. The scheme led to more than $3.5 million in losses, with Hussain personally connected to at least $550,000.

According to the plea agreement, Hussain and several co-conspirators submitted dozens of fraudulent unemployment insurance claims between March 2021 and August 2022. The group used stolen identities and manipulated systems within the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL) to alter claim information, including email addresses, account passwords, and payment methods. As a result, the MD-DOL unknowingly disbursed benefits to accounts controlled by the fraudsters. Debit cards linked to identity theft victims were then used to access the funds.

Co-conspirators included Bryan Nushawn Ruffin and Kiara Smith—both former employees of a company contracted to support MD-DOL—which enabled them to misuse internal systems. They provided access to secure databases and helped upload and approve fake documents, remove fraud flags, and certify false claims. Two others, Lawrence Nathanial Harris and Terry Chen, are awaiting trial. Several others have already pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing.

Hussain faces a maximum of 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy and a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for December 19 in federal court. The case is part of the DOJ’s Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force, which targets large-scale fraud against federal pandemic relief programs. Residents with information about similar fraud schemes are urged to contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud.

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

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