Little Rock, Ark. Dec 15, 2021— A Fort Smith woman was sentenced on December 8, 2021, to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay $120,978.00 in restitution following her guilty plea to one count of Wire Fraud related to fraudulent claims she filed for pandemic related unemployment benefits from the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services (ADWS). Her sentence also includes an additional three years of supervised release following her incarceration.

U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas announced the sentence today. The Honorable Judge P.K. Holmes III presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fort Smith.  The Fort Smith Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations Fort Smith Division, U.S. Department of Labor and the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter Bridges prosecuted the case.

“With the pandemic we saw an uptick in unemployment insurance fraud across the state and our nation,” said Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston. “I applaud the hard work of law enforcement and our fraud unit at the division of workforce services who work diligently to crack down on those committing a crime by making claims with false information.”

According to court documents, Fort Smith Police encountered Jasmine Molina, 26, in possession of identity documents and banking information belonging to unwitting victims.  Molina used the documents to file for pandemic related unemployment benefits from the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services (ADWS) and directed benefits payments to bank accounts under her control.  Using login information from the ADWS web portal, law enforcement was able to connect Molina to numerous benefits applications she made using others’ identities.

Claiming Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits based on providing false, misreported or unreported information to the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services is considered UI fraud. It is important to remain vigilant and immediately report any suspicious activity related to unemployment claims. If you receive a letter or debit card in the mail for unemployment benefits and you did not file for unemployment, or if you suspect someone has fraudulently filed for benefits using your name or any of your information, you need to report this to ADWS immediately.

Ways to Report Fraud to ADWS:

Send an email to [email protected].

Call 501-682-1058 to speak with the ADWS Fraud Investigation Unit.