Schenectady, NY (WRGB) — Frederick Hollingshed was sentenced to a prison term of 2 to 5 years on Friday, July 25, 2025, following his conviction in a COVID-19 unemployment fraud scheme. A Schenectady County jury found Hollingshed guilty on June 17, 2025, of grand larceny in the third degree, two counts of identity theft in the first degree, and criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree.
The trial, presided over by Acting Schenectady County Court Judge Mark Caruso, revealed that Hollingshed assumed another individual’s identity to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits totaling $16,196 starting in November 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hollingshed also received benefits under his own name.
Investigators discovered the fraud when Hollingshed logged into both his personal unemployment benefit claim and the identity theft victim’s claim using the same IP addresses. One of these IP addresses was traced back to Hollingshed’s home address. Additionally, he certified both claims from the same phone number within minutes of each other. The benefits were paid out through KeyBank debit cards, and recorded phone calls presented to the jury included Hollingshed’s voice on both claims, as identified by his federal probation officer…