State College Man Accused of Defrauding Pandemic Assistance Program

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday charged a State College man with fraudulently applying for and receiving more than $30,000 from a COVID-19 unemployment assistance program.

Timothy Omo-Taiga, 22, intends to plead guilty to one felony count of wire fraud conspiracy, according to a plea agreement filed in the U.S. Middle District Court of Pennsylvania.

Omo-Taiga and a co-conspirator are accused of submitting multiple fraudulent applications in eight states for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program between 2020 and 2021.

The applications contained “materially false statements and representations,” including the unauthorized use of other individuals’ names and personal information, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin wrote in a charging document. The applications also falsely claimed the named individuals lived in the states where the applications were filed and that they were unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the filing.

Payments were deposited into bank accounts owned by the two men and sent by mail, Martin wrote.

Omo-Taiga will be required to pay $$59,035 in restitution as part of the plea agreement.

He is listed in the Penn State directory as an undergraduate student at the university. A Penn State spokesperson has not yet replied to a message seeking information about his current status as a student.