Owner Of R.I. Employment Agencies To Plead Guilty In Federal Court To Fraudulently Collecting Temporary Disability Insurance And Unemployment Benefits

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Providence on Wednesday, Paul Spremulli, 54, of Coventry, R.I., the owner and president of PKS Associates and Temp Depot, temporary employment agencies located in Cranston, is expected to plead guilty to a charge of wire fraud, admitting that he fraudulently applied for and collected approximately $63,789 in Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) and Unemployment Insurance benefits from the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Cheryl Garcia, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Region of the Department of Labor - Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations announced today that an investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Department of Labor determined that at various times between February 2008 and May 2013, Paul Spremulli allegedly falsely claimed that he had either become incapacitated and was unable to work or that he had been laid off from his own businesses in order to collect TDI benefits and Unemployment Insurance benefits from the State of Rhode Island.

It is alleged in an Information filed with the court that from February 11, 2008 through early September 2008, and again from February 19, 2013 through early May 2013, while working full-time for PKS Associates and Temp Depot, Spremulli fraudulently claimed to the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training that he was incapacitated and was unable to work. It is alleged that he collected TDI payments totaling $31,245 to which he was not entitled.

Additionally, it is alleged in court documents that from November 19, 2009 through early December 2010, Spremulli fraudulently claimed he had been laid off from PKS Associates and Temp Depot, and that he collected $32,994 in Unemployment Insurance benefits to which he was not entitled because he was working full-time.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan.

Wire fraud is punishable by a statutory penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Additionally, according to a Plea Agreement filed in this matter, Spremulli is required to pay full restitution in the amount of $63,789 to the State of Rhode Island prior to or on the date of sentencing.

The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training Fraud Unit, which first discovered the alleged scheme by Spremulli to defraud the state agency, assisted the United States Attorney’s Office and the United States Department of Labor in the investigation of this matter.

An Information is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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