BALTIMORE, MD—A federal grand jury charged a Maryland man with conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft for his role in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $1 million in unemployment benefits, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Maryland.

Mervyn Fombe Abiko, 35, also known as “Magic,” was indicted on May 22, 2024. The indictment was unsealed upon his arrest on October 2nd.

The indictment alleges that Abiko and his co-conspirators, Martin Tabe and Gladstone Njokem, impersonated victims to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance claims from March 2020 through January 2021. They obtained victims’ personal information and used it to file online applications, resulting in debit cards being issued in the victims’ names. Abiko and his co-conspirators used these debit cards for point-of-sale transactions and at ATMs.

The scheme collectively profited over $1 million. Abiko faces up to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy and three counts of wire fraud. He also faces a mandatory sentence of two years in federal prison for each of the three counts of aggravated identity theft.

This case is part of the District of Maryland Strike Force’s efforts to investigate and prosecute COVID-19 fraud. The strike force focuses on large-scale, multi-state pandemic relief fraud.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.

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