A New Rochelle man has been arrested for allegedly stealing $312,597 in state unemployment benefits in ten months.
Benjamin Vabner, 40, was charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft on March 26 in U.S. District Court in White Plains.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy ordered Vabner to refrain from possessing or having access to personally identifiable information of others and released him from custody upon posting a $25,000 appearance bond.
Vabner, and “others known and unknown,” submitted 78 unemployment claims to the New York Department of Labor and to unemployment agencies in other states, from June 2020 to April 2021, according to an arrest affidavit by an agent for the U.S. Department of Labor inspector general’s office.
Unemployment insurance provides temporary financial assistance for workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own, the affidavit states. It is a joint federal and state program, where each state sets the level and duration of payments.
Payments are deposited directly into the claimant’s personal bank account or put on a prepaid debit card.
New York requires claimants to provide their name, Social Security number, address and employment information. If the claim is approved, the individual has to re-establish eligibility every week for which they receive the benefit.
Vabner submitted 60 online claims to New York using his name, date of birth, and his address in Elmsford and later in New Rochelle, according to the affidavit. But the Social Security numbers belonged to other people. Five of the numbers were for dead people.
New York identified some of the claims as potentially fraudulent and rejected them, and Vabner allegedly resubmitted the claims listing a different bank account.
New York approved 19 claims and deposited $10,302 in various bank accounts.
Unemployment agencies in Arizona, California, Maryland, and Nevada approved $302,295 in payments. In those instances, according to the affidavit, the claims were not in Vabner’s name but the debit cards were mailed to his addresses in Elmsford and New Rochelle.
“Vabner or his co-conspirators used these cards to withdraw money at ATMs and make purchases in person and online,” the affidavit states.
On three days in August 2020, according to the arrest affidavit, surveillance video at a Bronx bank captured images of Vabner using an unemployment benefits debit card to withdraw cash.
