State Auditor Shad White has announced that Special Agents from his office have arrested Brandon Williams and Miranda Trulove for conspiracy to defraud the State of Mississippi to obtain illegal unemployment benefits from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security (MDES), while Williams was incarcerated and therefore ineligible to receive unemployment benefits.
Brandon Williams
According to the Auditor’s office, Williams made numerous phone calls from prison to Trulove, his wife at the time, requesting that she help him apply for unemployment benefits. Allegedly, Williams received the illegal benefits via a Way2Go debit card. The unemployment card was then used by Trulove on numerous occasions.
“These are the latest arrests we’ve made for unemployment fraud,” said State Auditor Shad White. “We will continue to use the latest technology and investigative techniques to uncover fraud, which is how we’ve been able to recover more money in the last five years than any other five-year period.”
Miranda Trulove
If convicted, Williams and Trulove could each face up to five years in prison and $1,000 in fines. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office online at any time by clicking the red button at www.osa.ms.gov or calling 1-(800)-321-1275 during normal business hours.
