The New York State Department of Labor Announces Sentencing in Identity Theft and Fraud Case That Affected Hundreds of New Yorkers

By Jessel Thomas First Posted: Aug 16, 2022 05:51 AM EDT

The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) announced the conclusion of an identity theft and fraud case discovered in 2017 by the Department's Office of Special Investigations (OSI). The case was referred to the U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General (USDOL-OIG) and prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. Guy Cuomo, age 54, of Frederick, Maryland, was sentenced yesterday to 45 months after being found guilty on November 23, 2021, on computer fraud, misuse of a social security number, aggravated identity theft, and related conspiracy charges.

(Photo: NYS Department of Labor )

"I am proud of our team for their thorough investigation into this criminal activity and thank our federal partners for swiftly delivering justice," said New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. "We will continue to work closely with law enforcement partners to pursue criminals and fight to protect all New Yorkers."

OSI discovered the anomalies in 2017, when activity from an out of state IP address was noticed in the NYSDOL unemployment system related to numerous logins and OSI referred the matter to USDOL-OIG.

The U.S. Department of Justice charged the defendant and six other employees of the Paymerica Corporation, a company that assists with research for debt collectors, with illegally accessing state government systems to steal employment information to sell to debt collectors.

The defendants were involved in the identity theft of hundreds of victims from New York State and thousands across the country. The remaining defendants, who previously pled guilty, will be sentenced in the coming weeks. The defendant's co-conspirators face between two to ten years on their pleas.

For more tips on how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud, report unemployment fraud, employer fraud, and identity theft, visit the NYSDOL Fraud Resource Page.