Nine SC inmates, six others charged in $5M fraud scheme

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - A federal grand jury indicted 15 people on 51 counts in a fraud scheme totaling nearly $5 million, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Nine of the those indicted are current or former inmates in the South Carolina Department of Corrections system while the other six are friends or relatives of those inmates.

The agency says the inmates worked with other inmates and family outside of the jail to fraudulently obtain COVID-19 unemployment benefits in several states.

The inmates collected personal information such as social security numbers and birth dates from other inmates and used the information to apply for unemployment benefits, the agency said.

The Department of Justice alleges the inmates would also use contraband cell phones and posed as younger men and women to trick others to send nude photos and then later posed as law enforcement to collect personal information from those people.

The indictment alleges the defendants outside of jail would receive the money in the form of government checks and prepaid visa cards and use ATMs, wire transfers and mobile banking applications to make the money available.

The specific charges in the indictment are as follows:

• Reginald Raynard White, Jr., an SCDC inmate, faces twenty counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Christopher Ford, an SCDC inmate, faces one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Marvin Lee Trotter, an SCDC inmate, faces two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Dawn Hall, of Kansas City, MO, faces ten counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Benika Kershaw, Chester, SC, faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Albert J. Cave, Jr., an SCDC inmate, faces one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Jason Andrew Cash, an SCDC inmate, faces eight counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Stepheno Lemain Alston, an SCDC inmate, faces seven counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• James Griffin, an SCDC inmate, faces five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• John Travis Mace, an SCDC inmate, faces four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Ronald Gene Harvey, an SCDC inmate, faces four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Bridgette Cash, of Landrum, SC, faces one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Latasha Alston, of St. Helena Island, SC, faces eight counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Lori Robinson, of Monroe Township, NJ, faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
• Jessica Howell, of Southport, NC, faces one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

In total, the DOJ alleges the defendants fraudulently took $4,996,673 from the U.S. government.

Each alleged count of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $1 million.

The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service; the South Carolina Department of Corrections, Office of Inspector General; and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, with assistance from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.