Hampton man pleads guilty to million-dollar identity fraud scheme
HAMPTON — A local man pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of stealing more than a million dollars in four schemes — including one where he allegedly filed fake unemployment claims in two states on behalf of 54 people.
Anthony M. Silva, 39, of Hampton, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft as part of a negotiated plea deal with prosecutors. As part of the deal, Silva will get seven years in prison and forfeit assets totaling over $825,000 to the United States government. Prosecutors also agreed to drop the remaining charges against him.
He is scheduled to be sentenced May 2.
Silva was indicted on Dec. 20, 2023, by a federal grand jury on 10 counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and eight counts of aggravated identity theft. The indictments superseded previous ones filed against him in 2022.
Silva had initially pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $700,000 for two schemes on Nov. 7, 2022, but withdrew his plea in March, citing "ineffective assistance of counsel."
More: Teacher accused of sex with 18-year-old student to plead guilty
Prosecutors: Silva stole more than a million dollars in four schemes
According to the indictments and statements made in court, Silva allegedly orchestrated four separate fraud schemes using stolen identities.
Prosecutors allege Silva used stolen names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and other identifiers to fraudulently obtain unemployment insurance benefits from Vermont and Massachusetts, which were enhanced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to prosecutors, Silva allegedly obtained more than $400,000 from Vermont and over $150,000 from Massachusetts, which they say was "one of the largest unemployment insurance thefts in New Hampshire history."
Silva is also accused of allegedly obtaining CARES Act funds for $600,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration and trying unsuccessfully to obtain $1.35 million more.
The fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and CARES Act funds were deposited either by check or direct deposit into dozens of accounts Silva controlled at multiple banks, according to prosecutors.
According to court documents, he deposited those checks into one of 32 different trust accounts, which were in the names of purported charitable causes. The names of the trusts included Peaceful Protesters Bail Fund Trust, Trans Diversity Alliance Trust, Resist Trumpism Trust and BLM New England Trust, according to court documents.
More: Man who pleaded guilty after threatening girlfriend with gun in Hampton charged again
Prosecutors also allege Silva stole the personal identifying information of 12 victims — including their names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth — to apply for 15 different credit cards from American Express.Court documents allege he used the credit cards to make $59,684.14 in purchases at Walmart, Victoria's Secret and Home Depot, where he was recorded on store security footage making some of the purchases, according to prosecutors.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI, U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General, and Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kennedy.
Had the case gone to trial, Silva faced a sentence of up to 20 years in prison on the wire fraud and mail fraud charges. The charge of aggravated identity theft called for a mandatory sentence of 2 years to be served consecutive to any other sentence imposed.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton man pleads guilty to stealing over $1 million in fraud schemes
