Myaika Gross, a 40-year-old former United States Postal Service employee from Denham Springs, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to wire fraud for defrauding pandemic relief programs, admitting to fraudulently obtaining $65,928 in funds she was not entitled to receive. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana announced her guilty plea before U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles.
Gross worked for the U.S. Postal Service between May 2020 and June 2021. During this period, she applied for pandemic unemployment benefits in five states—California, Kansas, Indiana, Colorado, and Louisiana—by falsely claiming that she had been laid off due to COVID-19. In addition to the unemployment claims, Gross also applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan using fraudulent information.
These actions enabled Gross to unlawfully obtain pandemic relief funds that were intended for individuals and businesses genuinely affected by the pandemic. The fraud was uncovered by an investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M.P. Thornhill is prosecuting the case. The U.S. Department of Justice encourages anyone with information about pandemic-related fraud to report it by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721.
