The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the sentencing of a California man on April 30 to 144 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining around $59 million in public benefits and laundering the funds to China.
Bruce Jin, 61, of Los Angeles, had pleaded guilty in the case in January 2025, admitting that he and other co-conspirators “conspired to obtain state unemployment compensation funds, and other public funds, through fraudulent means,” the DOJ said in a May 1 statement.
Jin and two co-conspirators “entered into a series of agreements to make it appear as if they were operating legitimate businesses selling masks and other COVID19 personal protective equipment,” the DOJ said.
“The funds that the defendants obtained and laundered through their companies were derived from fraudulently obtained state unemployment compensation (‘UC’) benefits. The indictment alleges that Economic Impact Payments, or ‘stimulus payments,’ were also obtained through fraudulent means.”
Economic Impact Payments were offered by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide financial relief to Americans.
Some unnamed members of the scheme, including a few believed to be from China, set up thousands of accounts at banks in the United States, using the personal information of identity theft victims. The unemployment compensation funds were then routed to these accounts.
Once the funds were credited, they were transferred to companies controlled by Jin and the co-conspirators.
When Jin received the funds, he made international wire transfers to a bank account linked to a company in China, totaling more than $35 million. An additional $2 million was transferred by Jin directly into the bank account of a Chinese person who controlled the company.
In addition to the 144-month prison term, Jin was ordered to forfeit more than $59 million in U.S. currency and other property. Two co-conspirators in the case, both from Los Angeles, have pleaded guilty and are set to be sentenced this month.
Unemployment compensation is paid by a state to workers who lost their jobs due to layoffs or other circumstances, such as business downsizing. The compensation is intended to provide these workers with a source of income until they can find work.
On April 21, the DOJ announced that, in another case of unemployment compensation fraud, a Pennsylvania resident was indicted by a federal grand jury.
The defendant in the case worked at the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. While working at the department, the defendant allegedly accepted unauthorized payments from people who filed for unemployment compensation. The payments were made to the defendant to expedite and secure certain benefits for the applicants.
According to the DOJ, the defendant’s actions resulted in $528,449 in unemployment compensation benefits being paid to claimants who were not entitled to them.
“This investigation and the resulting Indictment send a clear message that government employees who steal and misuse public funds will be brought to justice,” U.S. attorney Troy Rivetti said.
“Our office and our law enforcement partners are committed to rooting out fraud and safeguarding the public treasury.”
In an October 2025 update, the IRS warned Americans that some states were experiencing a surge in fraudulent unemployment claims being filed by organized crime groups using stolen identities.
People who receive mail from a government agency about an unemployment claim or payment that they did not file for may be a victim of such an identity theft scam, the IRS said.
The agency warned that fraudsters were creating websites mimicking legitimate unemployment benefit sites, including those of the state workforce agency (SWA), to dupe people and steal their personal information.
“To lure consumers to these fake websites, fraudsters send spam text messages and emails purporting to be from an SWA and containing a link,” the IRS said.
“The fake websites are designed to trick consumers into thinking they are applying for unemployment benefits and disclosing personally identifiable information and other sensitive data. That information can then be used by fraudsters to commit identity theft.”
