COVID-19 relief fraud has cost the country billions of dollars.
The WTKR News 3 Investigative Team continues to follow through on cases in which people are facing new charges, even years after the pandemic hit.
Watch: Total loss from COVID relief fraud could be up to $135B
More cases of COVID relief fraud as government group estimates total loss up to $135 billion
We uncovered a recent case in Hampton Roads that impacted dozens of victims and cost the public hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Over a year and a half, 51 successful fraudulent claims were filed by a group of suspects, according to federal prosecutors.
Richard Upchurch of Norfolk recently pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud.
He, and others who are not named in the court paperwork, gathered the names, birth dates and social security numbers of their victims then applied for unemployment benefits using their information.
It states most of the crimes happened in Virginia and California, but there were also claims filed in Vermont, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico.