A state labour department's own laptop, used to hijack $3.5 million in claims
Kiara Smith, 28, of Prince George's County, Maryland, worked as a contractor for the Maryland Department of Labor and gave her state-issued laptop to co-conspirators, who used it to alter unemployment insurance data — changing email addresses, passwords and payment methods on claims — and to approve fraudulent CARES Act benefits. Sentenced in May 2026 to 42 months in federal prison, Smith was the fifth of at least six people sentenced in the conspiracy, which obtained more than $3.5 million.
- Year
- 2026
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $3.5 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Unemployment insurance fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-09-11
The facts, as recorded
- Kiara Smith, 28, of Prince George's County, Maryland, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and one year of supervised release for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
- Judge Deborah L. Boardman also ordered $3.5 million in restitution and a $275,000 criminal forfeiture.
- Smith worked as a contractor for the Maryland Department of Labor (MD-DOL) and gave her work-issued laptop to co-conspirators.
- From May 2021 through June 2022, the co-conspirators used that access to alter and approve fraudulent Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act unemployment insurance claims, including changing email addresses, online passwords and payment methods on existing claims — a technique regulators call claim hijacking or account takeover.
- The conspiracy used personal identifying information belonging to identity theft victims, co-conspirators, and, separately, inmates.
- The scheme obtained more than $3.5 million in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits from MD-DOL.
- Four co-conspirators had already been sentenced before Smith: Lawrence Nathanial Harris, 32, of Temple Hills, Maryland, to 180 months; Ahmed Hussain, 23, of Prince George's County, to 102 months; Zakria Hussain, 28, of Oxon Hill, Maryland, to 36 months; and Bryan Nushawn Ruffin, 27, of Woodbridge, Virginia, to 27 months.
Why this case matters
Every other case on this page involves an outside fraudster filing a brand-new claim in a stolen name. This one shows the more dangerous variant: a state labour department’s own contractor providing insider access, used not to invent claims from nothing but to take over claims that already existed — changing the email, password and payment method on a real filing so the benefits reroute to the conspiracy instead of the legitimate claimant.
Six sentences, one conspiracy, a wide range
The five co-conspirators sentenced by the time Smith was — from 27 months up to 180 months — show how unevenly federal sentencing lands across people in the same scheme, generally tracking each participant’s role and take rather than the conspiracy’s total size.
The caveat
Smith and four co-conspirators have been sentenced; a sixth, Terry Chen, 25, of Prince George’s County, had a sentencing scheduled and was not yet sentenced as of the reporting this page relies on.
Sources
- Prince George's County woman sentenced to prison for unemployment insurance fraud. Yahoo News (syndicated DC News Now / US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland reporting). Accessed 2026-09-11. Supports: Smith's name, age and location, the sentence, restitution and forfeiture, the DOL contractor role and laptop access, the May 2021–June 2022 timeline, the altered claims data, and the co-conspirator count.
- Maryland Woman Gets 3.5 Years for $3.5 Million COVID Unemployment Fraud Scheme. Townhall. Accessed 2026-09-11. Supports: Smith's sentence and financial penalties, the DOL contractor laptop method, the CARES Act claims, and the four named co-conspirators with their individual sentences.