NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Suffolk man was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with major disaster benefits, making false statements, and bank fraud. This marks Raymond Wyche’s third federal felony conviction. The new three-year sentence will run consecutively to a prior seven-year sentence Wyche is currently serving for a federal firearms conviction.
Wyche, 34, engaged in multiple fraud schemes, including filing fraudulent unemployment claims totaling $112,508 during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also received $20,570 in Paycheck Protection Program loans by falsifying details about a landscaping business named “Wyche Services.” Additionally, Wyche attempted to deposit counterfeit checks totaling $6,500.
Wyche was initially sentenced on Jan. 17, 2017, to four years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. After completing that prison term, he was incarcerated again in 2020 at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail for violating his federal supervised release.
While incarcerated in 2020, Wyche received $33,592 from an unemployment benefits claim. The application falsely stated he lost his job at a Chesapeake barbershop due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was ready, willing and able to work. He continued to recertify the claim weekly through September 2021, including periods while he was in jail and after his release when he was employed…