Man pleads guilty to using others' information to apply for COVID loans, benefits

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A 24-year-old man pleaded guilty in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Friday to fraudulently getting more than $1 million from the government’s COVID-19 loan program and state unemployment benefits by identity theft.

Conrad Brandon Bernard, of Broward County, used the names and personal information of other people without them knowing to apply for 14 loans under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and fraudulently received unemployment assistance from multiple states by applying with other people’s names and information, according to the factual proffer, the facts agreed on by prosecutors and the defense. He received a total of $1,083,340 between May 2020 and December 2022.

After applying for and receiving the federal loans and unemployment payments, Bernard deposited the money in bank accounts that he created using the names and information of other people who did not know or consent, the factual proffer said. He impersonated those people to make transfers or withdrawals.

Law enforcement officers pulled Bernard over during a traffic stop in May 2022 and found two TD Bank debit cards with the names of two different people, identified in the factual proffer only by their initials, according to the document. They searched his car and found multiple laptops and phones, a card printer with 16 blank cards and another printer with a fake U.S. passport card in the scanner, the factual proffer said.

Authorities received a search warrant that day for Bernard’s home in Broward County and found two fake U.S. passport cards, two Social Security cards with other people’s names, 43 Florida identification cards or driver’s licenses with the same photo but different identities, 33 Florida ID cards and driver’s licenses with a photo of a different man and various identities, 29 Humana insurance cards with different names and 31 W-2 tax forms with different identities, among other things, the factual proffer said.

The electronics Bernard had contained the personal information, including names, birthdays, bank account numbers and Social Security numbers, of “several thousand” different people, the factual proffer said.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5 in Fort Lauderdale, court records show. Federal prosecutors said in a news release Monday that he faces up to 30 years in prison for the bank fraud charges, followed by a mandatory consecutive two-year sentence for the aggravated identity theft charge.

_____