FOX 2 - A Detroit man pleaded guilty last week to wire fraud and identity theft in connection to a $16 million student aid scheme.
The backstory:
Brandon Robinson ran a decade-long student aid fraud scheme to which he pleaded guilty to, on May 6th, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Robinson, 42, got fraudulent federal student aid benefits involving so-called "straw students" who were enrolled for the primary purpose of receiving FSA.
Investigators say that between January 2015 and February 2024, Robinson submitted fraudulent FSA claims for more than 1,200 people, involving over 100 schools in 24 states.
As a result, Robinson caused more than $16 million in FSA benefits to be awarded, with more than $10 million disbursed. Robinson also accepted responsibility for filing over 100 fraudulent unemployment insurance claims between April 2020 and March 2023, causing the disbursement of over $1 million in UI benefits.
"More than 1,000 fake students. A decade of fraud. This man built an industrial-scale operation to loot federal student aid programs and to steal from the American taxpayer," said US Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon in a statement.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 1, 2026, where Robinson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud count, followed by a mandatory, consecutive penalty of two years for the aggravated identity theft count.
In a related case, co-conspirator Antonio Robinson and Joshua Porter also pleaded guilty, for their roles in the same scheme. Robinson will be sentenced on July 7 and Porter on August 4.
Both face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
"Brandon Robinson’s guilty plea sends a clear message: if you steal from programs meant to help hardworking Americans, our team and Vice President Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud — will find you, investigate you, and hold you accountable," said Anthony P. D’Esposito, U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General. "Protecting the integrity of the unemployment insurance system remains one of my top priorities. Fraud is a tax on every honest American, and we will continue aggressively pursuing the bad actors who exploit taxpayer-funded programs for personal gain."
The Source: Information for this report is from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.