COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTAP) – A mother and daughter who worked for the Ohio agency that processed pandemic unemployment claims have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a fraud scheme that investigators said improperly released nearly $2 million in benefits.
Velma Cain and her daughter, Rashanna Burley, were sentenced on April 24 to terms of four to six years in prison, to be served consecutively to an additional nine months on a different count, according to the Ohio Inspector General’s office.
Burley was an intermittent customer service representative at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Congress expanded unemployment eligibility through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program…