Micahia Taylor & Johnny Richardson Detroit couple charged w/ stealing $2.5 million COVID aid which they bragged spending on luxury & designer items on Instagram.
A Michigan couple are accused of having conspired an unemployment scheme worth $2.5 million in COVID-19 aid in which they in turn used to buy fancy cars, jewelry and designer clothes. Items which the couple shamelessly bragged acquiring on Instagram.
Micahia Taylor, 27, and Johnny Richardson, 25, both of Detroit, conspired with Brandi Hawkins, a contract unemployment worker, to file fake claims so they could rake in the money meant to help people affected by the pandemic, prosecutors said.
The couple filed the fraudulent unemployment claims online and let Hawkins, 39, know so she could use her ‘insider access’ to release the payments, prosecutors allege.
In July, federal investigators raided Hawkins’ home and found WhatsApp messages between Hawkins and Taylor where Hawkins showed her she was fixing the claims, according to a criminal complaint.
During the raid, investigators seized approximately $238,000 in cash, Louis Vuitton merchandise and receipts for other luxury items. Hawkins has since been charged with theft and bribery.
‘We simply do not know where that $2.5 million is,’
In one Instagram post, using the handle: @imjust_johnny, Richardson bragged about how he bought Taylor a Mercedes for her birthday.
‘BABY YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING I GOT THE BIG HOUSE YOU WANTED AND THE CAR AND THE JEWELRY,’ Richardson wrote in the Instagram post. ‘BTW I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I’M NOT DONE NEXT WEEK I GOT SOMETHING BETTER,’ the post reads.
During court on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Timothy Wyse decried Taylor as a flight risk while her boyfriend remained missing.
‘We simply do not know where that $2.5 million is,’ he added, according to The Detroit News.
The couple has been charged with wire fraud and each face up to 20 years in prison.
Taylor was released on $10,000 unsecured bond.
