Man charged with laundering Funds from COVID-19 Unemployment Relief

Austin Martin Siampwizi has been arraigned on federal charges of concealment money laundering, money laundering conspiracy, and wire fraud.  “Money launderers used the COVID-19 pandemic to financially benefit while millions of Americans were suffering,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “We will continue to prosecute individuals who defrauded this program at the expense of vulnerable citizens in need of this critical relief.”  According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the indictment, and other information presented in court: Austin Martin Siampwizi allegedly laundered money procured from fraudulent unemployment claims submitted to the Employment Security Department of Washington State (“ESD”). These claims were filed using personal identifiable information stolen from more than 50 individuals. Additionally, Siampwizi has been charged with wire fraud for allegedly submitting a fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (“EIDL”) application to the SBA.  The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) created a temporary federal program that provided up to 39 weeks of unemployment benefits for those unemployed because of the pandemic and included a provision to provide temporary benefits to individuals who had exhausted their entitlement to regular benefits or were otherwise not eligible.  That temporary federal program was administered by state employment agencies. The CARES Act also allowed the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to offer funding to business owners negatively affected by the pandemic.  Austin Martin Siampwizi, 46, of Atlanta, Georgia, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Christopher C. Bly.  Siampwizi was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 25, 2023.  Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.  This case is being investigated by the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah E. Klapman is prosecuting the case.  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 (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.