FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts
[email protected]
410-576-7009
BALTIMORE, MD – Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced that a Baltimore City grand jury has indicted Agustín Garcías Frias, 40, of Baltimore, Maryland, and Juan Ascota Fermin, 41, of Doral, Florida, on charges arising from a large-scale unemployment insurance fraud scheme conducted during the COVID‑19 pandemic. The defendants allegedly used stolen identities to obtain more than $300,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits. This investigation was led by the Attorney General’s Fraud and Corruption Unit and the Maryland Department of Labor (MDOL).
“When COVID-19 cost thousands of Marylanders their jobs, unemployment benefits kept roofs over their heads and food on their tables,” said Attorney General Brown. “Stealing the resources people depend on to survive a crisis is an unconscionable crime that will never go unanswered by our Office.”
According to allegations in the indictment, between June 2020 and June 2021, as part of a scheme to exploit the public health and unemployment crises during the COVID-19 pandemic, Frias and Fermin used the stolen identities of at least 17 individuals to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims with the MDOL. The claims exploited federal pandemic benefit programs, including the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which were created to help people who lost work because of COVID-19 under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020. The fake unemployment insurance claims generated large payments sent to debit cards, which were mailed to addresses linked to the two defendants. The defendants then used the debit cards to withdraw cash at Bank of America ATMs in Maryland and Florida, often using the same ATM for back-to-back transactions. In total, the scheme allegedly resulted in about $322,058 in fraudulent unemployment benefits being paid out.
“Protecting taxpayer dollars by combating unemployment insurance fraud is a vital part of our work and mission at the Maryland Department of Labor,” says Maryland Secretary of Labor Portia Wu. “We are proud to partner with the Office of the Attorney General on investigations of COVID19-era fraud to ensure the UI Trust Fund is protected and maintained for Marylanders who qualify for this critical benefit.”
Fermin is also alleged to have separately submitted a false unemployment insurance claim in his own name. Despite being ineligible for Maryland unemployment insurance benefits as a Florida resident, he unlawfully obtained an additional $28,284 in unemployment insurance funds.
Frias and Fermin are charged in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City with identity fraud scheme over $100,000, felony theft scheme over $100,000, and conspiracy charges. Frias is scheduled for an initial appearance in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on November 9, 2026.
Fermin has not yet been apprehended. The Attorney General’s Office is asking Juan Ascota Fermin to contact the Baltimore City Police Department and arrange to turn himself in. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact the Baltimore City Police Department or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-756-2587 or visit www.metrocrimestoppers.org/submit-a-tip/. Callers may remain anonymous.
In making today’s announcement, Attorney General Brown thanked his Criminal Division, specifically Division Chief Katie Dorian, Fraud and Corruption Unit Chief Alexander Huggins, Investigator Amy Amy, and Assistant Attorney General Gregory Jennings, who is prosecuting these cases. Attorney General Brown also thanked the Maryland Department of Labor for its partnership in this investigation, and Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates for his assistance with this prosecution.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. All individuals charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
###