Malden Man Gets Prison Time For COVID Relief Fraud, ID Theft

MALDEN, MA — A Malden man was sentenced to more than three years in prison for using dozens of stolen identities to open accounts, make purchases, rent cars and apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Wagner Sozi, 33, pleaded guilty in May to two counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of making a false claim. A judge sentenced him to 39 months in prison and two years of supervised release on Wednesday.

Federal authorities said Sozi obtained stolen identity information from various sources, including a Cambridge realty company that collected the personal information of potential renters. Numerous identity theft victims tied to Sozi had been clients of the company, including at least one person under whose name a fraudulent pandemic relief claim was filed, the USAO said.

Sozi lived with an employee of the company, and various office files were found in the apartment, authorities said.

Sozi and a female accomplice opened store credit accounts at several Staples locations under fake identities and used those accounts to buy more than $80,000 in Visa gift cards, federal authorities said.

The pair submitted fraudulent Staples store credit account applications using the personal identifying information of more than 60 victims, which a store manager, 35-year-old Ricardo Voltaire, processed in exchange for $8,000 in kickbacks, the USAO said.

Voltaire pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February.

Sozi and his partner also used the stolen identities to buy a Rolex for more than $15,000, withdraw $5,000 in cash and rent a Dodge Charger and Ford Mustang, both of which he never returned, authorities said.