Reading Man Pleads Guilty To Pandemic Assistance Fraud, ID Theft

READING, MA — A Reading man pleaded guilty to federal charges Tuesday in connection with schemes to defraud an elderly relative of her interest in a three-family home and falsely receive Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

In 2017, 51-year-old Giorgio "George" Fiorenza defrauded his relative into unknowingly signing a deed conveying her interest in a property she owned with his spouse and forged the woman's name on another document necessary to convey title to the property, federal authorities said.

Fiorenza then took out a $750,000 loan in his spouse's name and secured by the property, subsequently causing the lender to foreclose on the property, the U.S. Attorney said.

Between April and June 2020, Fiorenza filed claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in the names of third parties and fraudulently diverted some funds for his own use, federal authorities said.

Among other offenses, Fiorenza filed a PUA claim using a victim's identity, directed the proceeds of the claim to an account in his spouse's name and did not disclose to the victim or her husband that she had qualified for assistance, the U.S. Attorney said.

Fiorenza pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 7.