James G. Miller, Jr., a 53-year-old resident of Scranton, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for wire fraud. The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani on February 28, 2025.
Acting United States Attorney John C. Gurganus stated that between February 2020 and January 2022, Miller assisted coconspirators in transferring $1,582,179 obtained fraudulently through Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Lost Wage Assistance Payments (LWAPs), and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) benefits. Miller acted as a money mule by allowing the use of his mailing address and bank accounts to transfer these funds overseas in exchange for small sums of money.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Office of Inspector General Departments of Labor (OIG-DOL) and Homeland Security (OIG-DHS), and the Office of Inspector General Social Security Administration (OIG-SSA). Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Caraballo and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Lloyd prosecuted the case.
On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to coordinate efforts against pandemic-related fraud across government agencies. The Task Force focuses on investigating and prosecuting domestic and international criminal actors involved in pandemic-related fraud schemes.
Individuals with information about attempted COVID-19 fraud can report it to the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via their web complaint form.