Richland Man Indicted on $340,000 Worth of COVID Relief Fraud

A Richland man has been indicted by a Federal grand jury for COVID relief fraud.

   Man made court appearance August 27th

Gilbert Orosco of Richland has been hit with ten counts of  conspiracy, fraud, and aggravated identify theft. US Attorney's Office officials said beginning in July of 2020, Orosco participated with other suspects in a massive COVID relief scheme.

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According to the US Attorney's Office in Spokane:

"Orosco’s co-conspirators created and submitted false and fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance on behalf of individuals who were not seeking or eligible for the benefits, and did not know that their identities were being used to obtain benefits. Acting on the fraudulent applications, the states then mailed debit cards to Orosco’s home in Richland, Washington. According to the indictment, Orosco used the debit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs. After withdrawing the cash, Orosco would convert the money into cryptocurrency or money orders. Orosco would then allegedly use those assets himself or transfer them to co-conspirators."

He used the cards to withdraw 282,814 from 347 transactions, and made another 30 transactions at Winco Foods, Albertson's and USPS locations totaling $57,095.

No word if he has entered a plea yet.