On July 28, 2025, Zakria Hussain, a 28-year-old resident of Prince George’s County, Maryland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme that defrauded the federal government and Maryland of over $3.5 million in unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Kelly O. Hayes, alongside Troy W. Springer, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Inspector General, and Amanda M. Koldjeski, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office.
The CARES Act, enacted to provide economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic, became a target for fraudsters, including Hussain and his co-conspirators. From March 2021 to August 2022, the group orchestrated a sophisticated scheme to exploit Maryland’s unemployment insurance system, submitting fraudulent claims to the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL). Hussain personally participated in claims causing losses between $550,000 and $1.5 million, using debit cards issued in the names of at least six identity theft victims to access funds.
How the CARES Act Fraud Unfolded
The conspiracy leveraged insider access to MD-DOL systems. Co-conspirators Bryan Nushawn Ruffin, 27, of Woodbridge, Virginia, and Kiara Smith, 27, of Fort Washington, Maryland, were employed by a company providing professional support services to MD-DOL. This company, referred to as Company 1 in court documents, issued computers to Ruffin and Smith, which granted access to non-public UI data and databases. Hussain and others used these systems to manipulate existing UI claims, altering contact email addresses, passwords, and payment methods to redirect funds to accounts they controlled.
The group furthered their CARES Act fraud by exploiting victims’ personal identifying information (PII). They uploaded and approved fraudulent documents, removed fraud holds on claims, and certified weeks to secure UI payments. The MD-DOL, unaware of the deception, disbursed benefits to accounts controlled by the conspirators, believing they were aiding legitimate applicants.
Legal Consequences and Ongoing Cases
Hussain faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracy and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft, to be served consecutively. His sentencing is scheduled for December 19, 2025, at 10 a.m. before a federal district court judge, who will consider U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutory factors. Actual sentences are often less than the maximum, depending on judicial discretion.
Co-defendants Ruffin, Smith, and Ahmed Hussain of Oxon Hill, Maryland, have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Two others, Lawrence Nathanial Harris, 31, of Temple Hills, Maryland, and Terry Chen, 25, of Bowie, Maryland, are pending trial. The case is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harry M. Gruber, Paul A. Riley, and Joseph L. Wenner, with support from the Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force.
Maryland’s Role in Combating CARES Act Fraud
The Maryland COVID-19 Strike Force, part of a nationwide effort by the U.S. Department of Justice, targets large-scale fraud involving pandemic relief funds. The CARES Act, designed to assist Americans during the economic fallout of COVID-19, allocated billions for unemployment insurance, making it a prime target for criminal organizations. The strike force, combining prosecutor-led and data-driven investigations, has been instrumental in uncovering schemes like Hussain’s across Prince George’s County and beyond.
