A Prince George’s County man has pleaded guilty to defrauding Maryland and the federal government out of more than $1 million in unemployment insurance funds.

Terry Chen, 25, admitted in a plea deal that he and several co-conspirators, including two subcontractors for the Maryland Department of Labor , used the subcontractor’s private data to change several people’s claims for unemployment insurance under the CARES Act , the pandemic-era economic relief law.

Chen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft . He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for the wire fraud charge and a mandatory two-year sentence for identity theft.

The scheme resulted in losses between $1 million and $1.5 million. MORE FROM THE AUT

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