Miss. auditor’s office arrests 4 in alleged inmate identity unemployment fraud

State Auditor Shad White announced that special agents from his office arrested Felisa Suggs, Nathanial Coleman, P’Trance Fields and Kavisia Blaylock for allegedly submitting and obtaining fraudulent unemployment funds using the stolen identities of inmates, the auditor’s office said.

According to the office, agents discovered four unemployment claims submitted to MDES using the names of inmates incarcerated in the full-time custody of MDOC. The arrests were announced as part of Operation Payback, an effort to recover misspent pandemic unemployment funds.

White said his office found that “over half a billion dollars in illegal unemployment claims were given out during the pandemic.” He said Operation Payback was started to recover as much of that money as possible, the announcement said.

The auditor’s office said Coleman and Fields allegedly used the identities of inmates to whom they had close proximity while incarcerated to submit fraudulent claims. Blaylock and Suggs allegedly used various CashApp and bank accounts to launder the fraudulently obtained funds, the office said.

The office said each of the four faces up to $35,000 in fines and as much as 40 years in prison if convicted. The auditor’s office also noted that all persons arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Suspected fraud can be reported through a red button on the auditor’s website or by calling (800) 321-1275 during normal business hours, the announcement said.

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