2 from Detroit arrested after alleged fraud scam
Two people from Detroit were arrested Friday in Cranberry Township for allegedly being part of an unemployment fraud scam.
Demario A. Cooper, 29, and Jasmyne J. Studdard, 29, were both charged with five felony counts, including device fraud, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and two conspiracy charges.
After their arrest, both were placed in Butler County Prison on $25,000 bond.
According to charging documents, a UPS manager on Thursday alerted Cranberry Township Police about a suspicious envelope, which was the subject of multiple requests to change the delivery address over a period of days by an unidentified caller.
The documents said management opened the envelope Wednesday and found a ReliaCard debit card.
“ReliaCard is a reloadable prepaid debit card used by many states within the United State to process unemployment benefits for citizens,” said the investigating officer in the affidavit.
Police said the Department of Labor and Industry confirmed the card, which contained $10,500, was issued to a woman at a Cranberry Township address.
According to documents, police staged a delivery Friday, at which point a black BMW arrived around 12:48 p.m. Police said Cooper was driving the car, which had a Michigan plate, and Studdard exited the passenger seat and grabbed the envelope.
“She took possession of the envelope, got back in the vehicle, and then the officer immediately approached and took them into custody,” said Cranberry Township Police Sgt. Chuck Mascellino on Tuesday.
According to documents, police searched inside the vehicle after the arrest, where they found another debit card issued to a second victim.
According to documents, the card was partially used and had originally contained about $9,750. Police also allegedly found some items recently purchased with the card inside the car, including a magnetic strip reader, an iPad and a notebook containing handwritten notes about victims.
Police said the notebook also contained Studdard's own name.
Mascellino said neither victim was a township resident, and the claims were believed to be submitted through Michigan's state unemployment system.
“We believe they were in the area for several days,” he said.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for April 16 before District Judge David Kovach.