State Auditor Shad White announced Monday that Christy Gomez, Jones County resident, has pleaded guilty to four counts of Organized Theft or Fraud Enterprise (RICO) charges.
Between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2022, Gomez fraudulently received proceeds from the Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP) at the Mississippi Home Corporation and the Mississippi Department of Employment Security.
“Our team of investigators worked tirelessly to uncover this scheme,” said State Auditor Shad White. “We will continue to work alongside prosecutors to deliver record results for Mississippians.”
Gomez was sentenced by Mississippi’s 18th Judicial District Court to 13 years, with 8 years to serve and 5 years’ probation per count, to run concurrently. Gomez was also ordered to pay back $81,035.63 in restitution.
Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office online at any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or calling 1-(800)-321-1275 during normal business hours.
Clarksdale RAMP scam
A Clarksdale woman was charged in August 2022 with defrauding RAMP in a similar scam at the end of the COVID epidemic.
A judgment was entered against Sylnanceia Saffold, 30, of Clarksdale, in connection with a scheme to defraud the United States of more than $81,505 in Rental Assistance for Mississippians Program (RAMP) funds distributed by the Mississippi Home Corporation (MHC) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
According to court documents, Saffold was told about a scheme and then sought to obtain RAMP funds by filing false and fraudulent rental assistance applications with MHC as part of the CARES Act.
Saffold admitted to falsely claiming to be the landlord of 12 individuals so she could obtain backrent and future rental assistance for individuals affected by the CCOVID pandemic. Saffold also attempted to obtain funds on behalf of nine others but the fraud was detected by MHC fraud control personnel before the funds were distributed.
The RAMP rental assistance program was ended by Gov. Tate Reeves ended earlier this month. At that time Reeves said it was being abused and not being administered properly. He then sent $130 million in unspent federal funds back to Washington.
Since these were federal dollars these are federal crimes and are being processed in federal courts. Clarksdale and Coahoma County have a history of not punishing or even bringing to trial, fraud cases against local, state and federal agencies and individuals.
“The CARES Act programs, particularly the RAMP program, were intended to help families struggling to maintain their housing because of the pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “Unfortunately, far too many individuals like the defendant abused these programs for their own personal benefit.
“Our office continues to prosecute violations of any CARES Act program – PPP, EIDL, RAMP, Employee Retention Credits and others – in an effort to recover as many stolen taxpayer dollars as possible” Joyner added.
Saffold entered a civil consent judgment for actual damages plus penalties in the total amount of $101,311.50 before U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock last week. It is not known if Saffold will spend time in jail or what will happen if she doesn’t pay the money back.
“We will continue to work with our State and Federal partners to make sure emergency assistance gets into the hands of the people that need it for safe, decent, affordable housing,” said MHC Executive Director Scott Spivey. “I’m proud of our agency’s efforts to stamp out fraud and protect the integrity of our programs.”
Open configuration options
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Mississippi Home Corporation, which operated RAMP, has said it was still processing nearly 17,000 applications as of July 31. MHC has also said it has served over 36,000 households and distributed over $200 million in money to help those with rental assistance.
