College football player helped teammates file fake COVID unemployment claims, feds say
A 22-year-old college football player has been accused of filing dozens of fake applications for COVID-19 unemployment benefits before he transferred to another school.
Abdul-Malik McClain, who played at the University of Southern California before transferring to Jackson State in Mississippi last year, surrendered to law enforcement on Monday, Dec. 20, after a grand jury in the Central District of California indicted him on 10 counts of mail fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
McClain pleaded not guilty in a Los Angeles federal court room and was released on a $20,000 bond.
McClatchy News could not reach McClain for comment as of Dec. 21 and information regarding his defense attorneys was not immediately available.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, McClain is accused of orchestrating widespread unemployment fraud “while a member of his university’s football team.” Prosecutors didn’t specify which school but said it occurred when McClain was living in L.A. in 2020.
He was enrolled at USC during that time, the Los Angeles Times reported.
McClain is accused of helping other football players file fraudulent applications for unemployment benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provided expanded unemployment insurance to people who weren’t able to work because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The claims were filed with the California Employment Development Department, which administers unemployment insurance on behalf of the state.
Prosecutors said the applications contained “false information about the football players’ supposed prior employment, pandemic-related job loss, and job-seeking efforts in California.”
The applications contained the names of McClain and other football players as well as their friends’ names and the names of identity theft victims, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They reportedly claimed to be self-employed athletic trainers and tutors out of work because of the pandemic.
During the summer of 2020, McClain caused at least 36 fraudulent applications to be filed seeking $903,688 in unemployment benefits — at least $227,736 of which was paid, according to the government.
He transferred to Jackson State in December 2020, the Clarion Ledger reported, but his bio has been removed from the athletics website. According to the Los Angeles Times, the transfer was precipitated by the suspension of his brother, Munir McClain, from USC’s football team in September 2020.
The suspension followed “a complaint that was filed about USC students being approached with a plan to apply for EDD benefits,” the Times reported.
If convicted, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said McClain faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each count of mail fraud and a two-year mandatory prison sentence on the aggravated identity theft counts.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 4:12 PM with the headline "College football player helped teammates file fake COVID unemployment claims, feds say."
